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FINLAND 

A  LITTLE  LAND  THAT  IS 
TRUE  TO  ITSELF 


A  Study  of  Finland  Under  Russia  in  Com- 
parison with  the  South  of  the  United  States 


BY 

HELEN  GRAY 


NEW  YORK 

THE  NEALE  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

1914. 


Copyright,  1914,  by 
The  Neale  Publishing  Company 


VAIL-BALLOU     COMPANY 
BINQXAMTON  AND  NEW  YORK 


DK 


TO 

THE  MEMORY  OF 
MY  MOTHER 


142"^  50^ 


I  am  indebted  to  Messrs.  E.  P.  Button 
&  Co.,  Publishers,  of  New  York,  for 
permission  to  use  the  selections  from 
the  ''Kalevala,"  translated  by  W.  F. 
Kirby,  and  published  in  Everyman's 
Library. 


PREFACE 

My  visit  to  Finland  concerned  my  interest  in 
problematical  questions.  Having  traveled  for 
a  number  of  years  in  the  Southern  States  as  a 
journalist,  writing  along  various  lines,  I  be- 
came interested  to  know  what  the  people  of 
other  lands  were  doing  to  solve  their  problems, 
none  of  which,  it  seemed  to  me,  could  be  as  seri- 
ous as  the  problems  that  face  the  people  of  the 
Southern  States  of  the  American  Union.  Fin- 
land, because  of  its  individuality,  and  the  com- 
bative and  initiative  faculties  of  its  inhabitants, 
had  for  some  time  excited  my  admiration;  and 
that  I  have  no  reason  to  regret  the  time  spent 
within  the  borders  of  this  little  land,  I  think  my 
small  volume  will  testify. 

I  am  an  enthusiastic  believer  in  traveling  for 
instruction,  which  prompts  me  to  say  here,  that 
I  would  like  to  see  rearing  its  head  in  every 
state  in  the  American  Union,  an  institution 
similar  to  the  London  School  of  Economics  and 
Political  Science,  where,  I  think,  the  best  prep- 
aration for  this  method  of  study  may  be  had. 

I  am  indebted  to  many  people  for  many  kind- 
nesses, especially  to  Captain  Hultine,  of  the 

9 


10  PREFACE 

Finnish  Tourist  Society,  for  pictures  and  other 
assistance ;  and  to  Madame  Aino  Malmberg  and 
Mrs.  Myrta  Locket  Avary  for  their  kindly  in- 
terest. 

I  may  add  as  a  postscript  that  this  little  book 
just  "happened."  Not  until  the  last  word  was 
written,  and  I  had  laid  down  my  pencil,  did  the 
thought  come  to  me  that  I  had  written  a 
"book."  The  chapters  were  intended  to  be 
read  in  public,  in  connection  with  my  other  ef- 
forts to  interest  in  the  vital  problems  at  our 
door,  those  people  with  whom  I  came  in  contact, 
who  were  not  already  interested. 

Helen  Gray. 

London,  December  12,  1913. 


CONTENTS 

Preface 9 

CHAPTEB  PAGE 

I    How  Finland  Became  a  Nation  ...  15 

II    An  Account  of  My  Journey  ....  21 

III  Country  Life 40 

IV  Finland's  Internal  Conflict      .     .     .  46 
V    Touring  Finland 57 

VI    Kuopio  and  Kajana 84 

VII    In  the  Far  North 88 

VIII    Education 105 

IX    Industrial  Finland 114 

X    Stories  from  the  Kalevala  ....  133 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Learning  to  Cook  at  the  Folk  Schools  .      Frontispiece 


lAOING 
PAGE 


Map  of  Finland 15 

The  Esplanade,  Helsingfors 28 

Symbolical  Picture 30 

Knight  Erik's  Castle  at  Nyslott 72 

Woodland  Scenery, — Punkaharju 73 

A  Finnish  Gentleman's  Home 85 

The  Beginning  of  the  Rapids  Where  the  Tourist 
Boats  Shoot 89 

Bathing  Facilities  at  the  Folk  Schools   .      .      .107 

"The   Resurrection" 114 


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FINLAND 

CHAPTER  I 

HOW  FINLAND  BECAME  A  NATION 

Finnish  History  —  Swedish  Conquerors  —  Fire-screen  of  Swe- 
den—  Promise  of  Alexander  I  —  Finnish-Finns  and  Swed- 
ish-Finns—  The  Land  of  Brave  Men  and  Women. 

In  the  nortliem  portion  of  Europe  there 
lives, — yes,  yet  lives, — a  unique  little  nation  of 
some  three  millions  of  people,  a  nation  that  has 
been  attracting  favorable  comment  from  the 
European  press  for  some  fourteen  years  be- 
cause of  the  brave  stand  it  has  taken  for  its  lib- 
erties, which  are  being  encroached  upon  by  the 
Russian  government.  For  the  Grand  Duchy  of 
Finland,  like  Poland,  is  a  part  of  the  Russian 
Empire. 

In  the  twelfth  century  the  Finns  were  con- 
quered by  the  Swedes.  The  Finnish  people  at 
that  time  lived  in  villages,  each  of  which  was 
governed  by  a  chief;  their  occupations  w^ere  a 
rude  agriculture  and  piracy ;  and  they  were,  as 
now,  great  rovers  of  the  sea. 

The  Swedes  made  them  acquainted  with  cul- 
ls 


16  FINLAND 

ture  and  Cliristiauity,  both  of  whicli  in  time 
they  would  have  learned  anyway,  without  the 
humiliation  of  subjection.  But  the  Swedes 
were  not  unkindly  conquerors,  as  conquerors 
go;  and  for  many  hundreds  of  years  the  con- 
quered and  the  conqueror  lived  together  on 
easy  terms,  practically  without  amalgamation. 

Finland  became  the  fire-screen  of  Sweden,  as 
it  were,  standing  between  her  and  her  Eussian 
foe. 

For  half  a  dozen  centuries,  we  may  say,  the 
Finnish  soldiers,  noted  for  their  bravery, 
scarcely  slept  off  the  fighting  field.  In  1809, 
however,  they  were  conquered  by  Russia,  and 
this  event  was  a  fortunate  one  in  their  history, 
for  never  nobler  conqueror  lived,  so  far  as  his 
attitude  toward  the  Finlanders  was  concerned, 
than  Alexander  I,  of  Russia. 

He  took  a  fancy  to  the  Finns,  and  gathering 
their  representatives  together  in  the  little  ca- 
thedral church  at  Borga,  where  they  took  the 
oath  of  allegiance,  he  told  them  that  he  desired 
to  place  Finland  among  the  nations  of  the  earth, 
subject  to  Russia  only  in  external  affairs;  in- 
ternally, she  should  have  separate  autonomy. 
At  the  time  that  he  delivered  this  promise  there 
were  in  the  western  part  of  the  land  Finns  who 
were  still  fighting.  They  laid  down  their  arms 
a  few  months  later,  and  on  the  5th  day  of  Sep- 


FINLAND  17 

tember,  1809,  in  the  ancient  little  town  of  Fred- 
eriksham,  Sweden  signed  away  to  Russia  all  her 
rights  to  Finland  and  the  Finns. 

The  pure  Finns  are  of  Turanean  descent,  of 
the  Finnish-Ugrian  race ;  they  are  related  to  the 
Huns,  the  Magyars,  and  the  Moguls,  and  some- 
where back  in  the  early  centuries  to  the  Turk. 
You  recognise  to-day  a  tendency  to  high  cheek- 
bones and  almond  eyes ;  but  the  Finns  are  quite 
white.  There  is,  indeed,  a  later  theory  that 
the  Finns  and  Hungarians,  too,  are  of  Arian 
descent,  the  opinion  being  based  upon  a  study 
of  the  shape  of  the  skull. 

We  thus  see  that  two  races  are  living  in  Fin- 
land to-day, — the  aristocratic  Swedes  (Finland- 
ers  of  Swedish  descent)  being  one-eighth  of  the 
population,  and  the  Finns,  who  represent  seven- 
eighths. 

I  hope  you  will  be  interested  to  hear  some- 
thing concerning  this  little  nation  of  three  mil- 
lions of  souls,  facing  a  frowning  Russia  of  150 
millions,  living  in  a  territory  through  which 
runs  the  polar  circle,  a  territory  of  rocks  and 
rapids  and  trees.  They  are  the  most  demo- 
cratic people  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  they 
have  the  highest  all-round  standard  of  educa- 
tion of  any  people  on  the  earth ;  I  may  almost 
say  they  are  the  most  liberty-loving  people  on 
the  earth  and  the  bravest. 


18  FINLAND 

I  wish  I  could  say  to  you  that  I  believe  Amer- 
ica to  be  the  land  of  the  free;  but  if  I  did,  I 
would  be  only  indulging  in  that  dream  of  make- 
believe,  so  peculiar  and  really  alarming  in  the 
American  character.  I  have  said  that  my  talk 
on  Finland  concerns  my  interest  in  Economics 
and  Political  Science  and  their  attendant  sub- 
jects. We  can  do  nothing  in  applied  economics 
without  considering  our  subject  carefully. 

Economics  and  Political  Science  so  vitally 
concern  our  every-day  life  that  to  neglect  and 
ignore  their  fundamental  rules,  after  all  that 
the  experiences  of  history  have  taught  us,  would 
be  to  invite  Titanic  disaster;  for  when  wrong 
economic  conditions  exist  among  a  people,  and 
when  their  laws  are  adverse  to  their  own  inter- 
est, then  that  people  is  bound  to  decay.  Indus- 
trial decay  and  agricultural  decay  are  followed 
by  educational  decay  and  apathy;  and  then 
comes  the  dark,  dark  veil  of  ignorance,  followed 
by  blindness. 

In  Economics  and  Political  Science  the  What- 
is,  the  What-was,  and  the  What-may-be,  are  the 
subjects  that  concern  us,  not  the  What-we- 
would-desire  nor  the  What-we-would-like-to- 
think.  We  must  part  with  sham  and  foolish  op- 
timism; we  must  learn  to  understand  facts. 

Finland  has  a  variety  of  names:  the  Finns 
call  their  land  ' '  Suomi, '  *  meaning  marsh-land ; 


FINLAND  19 

she  has  been  called  "The  Land  of  a  Thousand 
Lakes"  (twelve  thousand  would  be  nearer  the 
truth) ;  she  has  been  called  ''The  Land  of  Wood 
and  Water,"  because  she  possesses  more  acres 
of  forestry  than  any  other  country  in  Europe, 
and  her  beautiful  waterways,  including  the 
lakes,  form  a  magnificent  network  of  communi- 
cation throughout  the  land.  She  is  entitled 
to  be  named  ''The  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun," 
for  in  summer  she  is  a  land  of  light,  and  in  win- 
ter a  seemingly  interminable  night.  She  might 
be  called  "The  Land  of  Eocks  and  Rapids"; 
she  is  built  on  granite,  and  as  to  rapids,  you 
are  never  out  of  their  hearing.  In  the  far,  far 
aeons  ago,  in  the  glacial  period,  break-away 
rocks  found  their  way  to  the  low  parts  of  the 
rivers,  and  to-day  they  sing  to  you  from  every 
corner  of  the  country.  She  might  be  given  the 
trite  name  of  the  "Land  of  Snow  and  Ice," 
though  she  is  not  quite  so  cold  as  you  would 
think,  for  the  Gulf  Stream  modifies  her  tem- 
perature somewhat,  and  her  many  waterways 
retain  the  warmth  of  a  summer  sun  that  influ- 
ences Old  Boreas  a  little.  She  might  be  called 
' '  The  Land  of  the  Rowan  Tree, ' '  for  among  the 
first  things  to  attract  the  eye  of  the  summer  vis- 
itor, be  he  within  the  Polar  Circle  or  down  in 
the  more  temperate  zone,  are  the  luxurious  red 
clusters  that  enrich  this  predominant  tree.    She 


20  FINLAND 

might  be  called  ''The  Berry  Land,"  for  she 
is  famous  for  the  delicious  flavor  of  her  wild 
strawberries,  which  are  plentiful,  and  there  is 
also  a  profusion  of  other  berries.  She  might 
be  called  ' '  The  Land  of  Schools, ' '  for  the  Finns 
greatly  desire  knowledge,  as  their  temples  of 
learning  testify.  She  might  be  called  "The 
Land  of  Kindness  and  Hospitality,"  for  every- 
where these  qualities  abound.  Someone  sug- 
gests that  she  is  "A  Land  where  the  People  are 
not  like  other  People,"  because  she  is  no  base 
imitator:  she  elects  to  be  original  and  initia- 
tive. 

But  I  shall  call  her  "The  Land  of  Brave  Men 
and  Women,"  for  the  precious  treasure  of  pa- 
triotism is  strong  within  her,  and  she  dares  to 
do  what  you  and  I  would  not  dare  to  do  to  pre- 
serve our  God- given  right  of  liberty:  she  be- 
lieves in  Home  rule,  which  means  self -taxation. 


CHAPTER  II 

AN  ACCOUNT  OF  MY  JOURNEY 

In  Liverpool  —  Hull  to  Helsingfors  —  Finnish  Vessel  —  Ka- 
trina  —  Kalevala  —  In  Helsingfors  —  The  Market  —  Sym- 
bolic Fountain  —  Drosky  Fares  —  My  Hotel  —  Runeberg'a 
Statue  —  Finnish  Loyalty  to  Finnish  Art  —  University  — 
Women  in  the  Diet  House  —  Little  Steamer  Trips  — 
Ekenas  —  The  Methodist  Minister  —  Borga  —  Tsars  who 
loved  Finland  —  Her  Constitution  —  Development  —  Rus- 
sia's changed  attitude  —  Finland's  Grief  —  Bobrikoff,  Gov- 
ernor-General —  Newspapers  in  Buttertubs  —  Meetings  — 
Runeberg's' Home  —  Schauman. 

An  agreeable  way  of  getting  to  Finland  is  by- 
steamer  from  Hull,  England,  to  Helsingfors, 
the  capital  of  the  country.  On  a  scorching  July 
day  last  summer  I  left  New  York  by  the  White 
Star  Line  for  Liverpool.  On  arriving  at  Liv- 
erpool, I  found  that  the  semi-weekly  steamer 
for  Helsingfors  had  just  sailed,  our  liner  hav- 
ing been  detained  in  the  Mersey  twelve  hours 
on  account  of  the  opening  of  the  new  Liverpool 
dock  and  the  presence  of  the  King  in  Liverpool. 

As  the  object  of  my  trip  was  to  study,  I 
passed  my  time  visiting  places  of  sociologic 
and  economic  interest,  among  them  the  Public 

21 


22  FINLAND 

Baths,  the  great  Docks,  and  a  magnificent  model 
Soap  Factory  and  Village,  Port  Sunlight.  The 
son  of  a  grocer  decided  that  he  would  make 
soap,  and  the  result  was  the  Port  Sunlight  soap 
factory.  He  began  with  little  or  nothing;  to- 
day he  bears  a  title  and  is  purveyor  to  his 
Majesty  the  King. 

I  shall  not  forget  my  first  glimpse  of  the 
model  little  steamer  Titania,  which  was  to 
carry  me  peacefully  across  the  North  Sea,  past 
the  Skager-Rak,  through  the  Kattegat, — where 
there  is  a  fine  view  of  Elsinore  Castle  where 
the  "melancholy  Hamlet"  stayed  awhile, — 
across  the  Baltic  Sea  and  the  Gulf  of  Finland 
to  Finland. 

The  Titania  is  a  Finnish  vessel,  captained 
and  manned  by  Finlanders.  It  goes  without 
saying  that  she  is  kept  scrupulously  clean  and 
neat,  for  the  Finlanders  are  among  the  cleanest 
people  of  the  earth.  The  cuisine, — both  first 
and  second  class, — is  above  criticism,  and  the 
traveler  obtains  his  introduction  here  to  the 
Smorgas-bord,  a  side  table  of  little  dishes, 
where  is  to  be  found  herring,  ham,  lettuce,  rad- 
ishes, tongue,  cucumbers,  beets,  salmon,  toma- 
toes, potatoes,  beer,  sardines,  bread,  cheese,  and 
some  edibles  unknown  to  me.  These  side  dishes 
are  to  be  tested  before  the  regular  meal,  which 
is  customary  in  both  Sweden  and  Finland. 


FINLAND  23 

My  neighbor  at  the  table  was  a  Finnish  Lu- 
theran preacher  from  Michigan,  en  route  to  his 
native  land  on  a  visit.  He  was  the  president  of 
a  School  for  Finns  in  Michigan, — a  school  that 
is  attended  by  the  children  of  the  men  who 
work  in  the  mines  of  Michigan.  And  there  was 
also  on  board  a  party  of  young  men  from  Scot- 
land, who  left  the  steamer  at  Copenhagen,  their 
purpose  being  to  study  Danish  agriculture. 

As  I  expected  to  be  in  Finland  at  an  election 
for  Members  of  Parliament,  I  inquired  of  a 
young  Finn  at  the  next  table  to  me  what  ho 
thought  of  the  women  voters  and  Members  of 
Parliament  in  his  country. 

*'I  think  it  is  well  to  let  women  do  as  they 
please,"  he  answered,  ''and  of  course  it  is  pleas- 
ant to  talk  on  political  questions  with  women." 

Later,  in  Helsingfors,  I  asked  a  white-capped 
Norwegian  student  what  he  thought  of  women 
voters  and  Members  of  Parliament,  and  he  re- 
plied, ''Quite  a  new  tyi^e  of  woman  has  been 
evolved, — a  type  that  is  not  so  nice." 

My  stateroom  mate  puzzled  me  as  to  her  na- 
tionality, for  I  was  told  she  was  a  Finnish 
woman.  She  dressed  in  bright  colors,  and  was 
cheery,  even  lively, — pleasantly  lively, — in  her 
manner.  She  had  grey-blue  eyes  and  brown 
hair.  Mentally,  I  called  her  "Katrina,"  be- 
cause  she   "Yah,    Yahed"   me,    although   her 


24  FINLAND 

build  was  not  that  of  a  German  woman.  She 
also  used  the  pretty  **Nay,  nay,"  of  the  Swedes, 
although  she  didn't  look  like  a  Swede. 

We  conversed  with  each  other  in  sign  lan- 
guage, helped  along  by  frequent  ''Yah,  yahs," 
and  *'Nay,  nays,"  which  sometimes  ended  in 
spasms  of  laughter. 

Here  is  a  specimen  of  how  we  managed.  One 
night  I  noticed  that  Katrina  was  tossing  in  her 
berth,  which  was  opposite  to  mine.  Suddenly 
she  sprang  out  of  bed,  pushed  the  electric  but- 
ton, put  on  her  bright  red  petticoat  and  threw 
a  little  blue  cape  over  her  shoulders,  and  began 
rummaging  for  something  in  her  big  black  bag, 
which  sometimes  got  over  on  my  side  of  the 
room.  She  drew  out  a  little  vial,  and  then 
turned  on  me  with  a  gesticulation  by  way  of 
explanation.  She  opened  her  mouth  very  wide, 
pointed  her  finger  to  it,  shook  the  bottle  right- 
eously, and  then  placed  her  fingers  over  her 
eyes  to  let  me  know  that  it  would  help  her  to 
go  to  sleep.  ''Yah,  yah,"  I  consented;  "yah, 
yah," — seeing  that  Katrina  had  been  tossing 
uncommonly  that  night. 

If  she  had  been  slovenly  in  her  ways,  I  might 
have  objected  to  her  being  in  the  room  with  me ; 
but  she  possessed  all  the  virtue  of  cleanliness 
that  is  characteristic  of  these  northern  Euro- 
pean   peoples.     The    clothes    in    her    bag, — 


FINLAND  25 

which  I  couldn't  help  seeing,  for  she  opened  it 
so  often,— were  spotlessly  clean,  as  were  those 
in  her  bandboxes  too.  And  her  quaint  ways 
amused  me. 

One  day  when  we  were  conversing  in  our 
usual  manner,  she  indicated  to  me  that  she  was 
going  to  Viborg,  which  is  in  the  western  part  of 
Finland,  at  the  door  of  Eussia.  Then  it  oc- 
curred to  me  that  she  might  be  a  Karelian 
Finn. 

When  the  Finns  began  to  immigrate  to  what 
afterward  became  known  as  Finland  it  was  a 
body  of  land  without  a  name.  They  came  from 
the  central  part  of  Eussia,  near  the  Volga,  hav- 
ing reached  that  land  from  Asia.  The  Tavast 
Finns, — firm-jawed,  patient,  dogged  (magnifi- 
cent virtue  that,  doggedness),  enduring,  slow, 
and  conservative  until  awakened, — settled  in 
the  western  part  of  Finland,  and  the  Karelian, 
— light-hearted  and  brown-haired,  poetical,  im- 
practical, roving,  clever, — settled  in  the  west- 
em  part.  The  Tavast  Finns,  by  their  larger 
strength  of  character,  gave  to  Finland  her  indi- 
viduality. The  Karelian  Finns  gave  to  her 
her  poetry;  and  the  noble  epic  "Kalevala"  has 
been  assigned  a  place  with  Homer's  Iliad,  the 
Nibelungenlied,  and  other  great  epics.  Long- 
fellow borrowed  for  his  Indian  legend  ''Hia- 
watha" the  meter  of  "Kalevala." 


26  FINLAND 

In  approacliing  Helsingfors,  first  in  point  of 
view,  is  the  Fortress  of  Sveaborg,  on  seven 
Islands,  weighted  with  Eussian  guns,  maga- 
zines, and  barracks.  During  the  Crimean  war 
England  and  France  allied  and  tried  to  destroy 
it,  but  they  could  not.  You  are  told  the  story 
that  in  1809  the  Swedish  commander  surren- 
dered the  fortress  to  Eussia  without  a  gun's 
having  been  fired.    Why?    A  mystery. 

There  are  delightful  little  islands  to  pass,  and 
charming  little  boats  moving  in  and  out.  Ev- 
erybody makes  remarks  concerning  the  finely 
situated,  gold-glittering  Eussian  Cathedral  and 
the  more  impressive  white  Lutheran  Church. 

The  steamer  lands  you  before  a  wide  space 
commanding  a  full  view  of  the  market  place, 
a  most  interesting  spot  to  visit.  Here  are 
piles  of  fine  vegetables  and  beautiful  berries, 
some  in  pretty  birch-bark  baskets, — strawber- 
ries, raspberries,  blue-berries,  blackberries, 
gooseberries,  cranberries,  whortleberries,  cloud- 
berries,— and  the  stacks  of  meat  and  bread  and 
fish  and  flowers  and  wares  for  sale  in  the  little 
stalls  and  boats  convey  the  impression  of  a  su- 
perior agricultural  country,  when  in  reality 
some  idea  of  the  poverty  of  Finland's  re- 
sources may  be  expressed  by  repeating  the  Fin- 
nish proverb  that  God  left  Finland  out  when 
he  was  dispensing  the  gifts  of  the  earth. 


FINLAND  27 

Near  to  the  market  place  is  a  fountain  show- 
ing a  maiden  rising  out  of  the  water,  which 
seemed  to  me  symbolic  of  the  fact  that  Finland 
is  rising  out  of  the  sea, — very  noticeably  so. 
Her  mainland  is  increasing,  new  islands  are 
appearing  as  time  moves  on,  and  it  has  been 
remarked  that  Finland  and  Sweden  may  some 
day  shake  hands. 

Among  the  first  things  you  notice  after  you 
have  landed  in  Finland  is  the  number  of  Rus- 
sian uniforms,  and  you  will  observe,  too,  that 
the  streets  have  Finnish,  Swedish,  and  Russian 
names.  To  one  who  cannot  afford  to  ride  in 
carriages  in  her  own  land  the  Finnish  drosky 
is  an  ever  delight ;  often  for  twenty  cents,  and 
sometimes  for  ten,  you  may  be  transported  to 
your  destination.  There  was  no  room  at  the 
Societetshuset  Hotel — Society  House  being  a 
designation  frequently  used  for  hotel  in  Fin- 
land,— so  I  engaged  quarters  at  the  Fennia  Ho- 
tel, across  a  wide  space  from  the  railway  sta- 
tion. My  single  room  cost  me  sixty  cents  a  day, 
— cheap  enough, — but  feeing  is  a  nuisance  that 
you  cannot  escape,  in  these  northern  countries 
in  particular,  for  the  ^^portiers"  often  pay,  in- 
stead of  receive  pay,  for  their  posts  and  the 
maids  and  other  attendants  are  paid  veiy  little, 
and  expect  you  to  remember  them.  At  the 
Fennia  Hotel  one  is  served  faithfully,  and  I 


28  FINLAND 

can  recommend  it,  for  the  "portier"  speaks 
English  and  the  attendants  are  obliging. 

When  I  go  to  a  strange  place  I  like  to  be  led, 
in  my  first  walk,  psychologically  along,  and  I 
made  my  way  to  the  statue  of  Euneberg,  which 
stands  in  the  exquisitely  flower-bedded  espla- 
nade, the  principal  and  most  central  thorough- 
fare of  the  city.  At  the  foot  of  the  bronze 
statue  of  this  poet,  who  was  the  author  of  the 
National  Anthem,  stands  the  figure  of  a  woman 
typifying  Finland. 

"Scroll  and  branch  in  her  carven  hand, 
What  are  the  words  that  she  ponders  dreaming, 
Finland's  battle-song  'Our  Land!'" 

On  the  anniversary  of  the  birth  of  the  poet 
the  students  gather  about  the  statue  and  sing, 
while  they  place  upon  it  offerings  of  flowers. 
All  over  Finland  you  will  notice  this  beautiful 
gratitude  and  loyalty  to  their  own.  Every 
poet,  every  prose  writer,  every  military  hero, 
every  worker  for  good  who  has  lifted  the  status 
of  Finland,  has  been  remembered,  and  scenes 
from  the  poets,  historic  scenes,  and  legendary 
scenes  are  reproduced  in  the  beautiful  paint- 
ings and  decorations  on  the  walls  of  the  public 
buildings.  Busts  and  monuments  enrich  the 
parks  and  gardens,  and  if  you  enter  the  churches 
or  private  homes,  be  it  the  home  of  a  peasant 


o 

J 

« 

Q 
< 

CM 
W 

w 

H 


FINLAND  29 

or  of  a  well-to-do  person,  you  will  notice  the 
same  beautiful  loyalty:  Finnish  scenes  by 
Finnish  artists,  books  by  Finnish  authors, 
busts  by  Finnish  sculptors  are  to  be  found  in 
them  all. 

And  this  appreciation  is  material  also,  for  all 
over  Finland  are  funds  to  help  the  worthy 
along.  Alas!  my  thoughts  strayed  back  to  a 
body  of  people,  several  thousands  of  miles 
away  from  me,  who  have  crucified  their  own 
poets,  prose  writers,  artists,  sculptors,  publish- 
ing houses,  magazine  promoters,  talent  of  every 
kind,  with  Ishmaelitish  indifference. 

The  visitor  to  Finland  never  fails  to  be 
pleased  with  the  white  velvet  caps  of  the  Uni- 
versity students,  so  delightfully  expressive  of 
progress,  ornamented  as  they  are  with  laurel 
wreath  and  a  golden  lyre  on  a  black  velvet  band. 
When  a  student  graduates  a  laurel  wreath  is 
placed  upon  his  or  her  head.  The  University 
at  Helsingfors  is  well  worth  a  visit.  Its  mas- 
sive mahogany  doors  do  not  flaunt  the  words 
"Closed  to  Women,"  and  there  are  to  be  found 
a  bust  of  a  great  Russian  Tsar  who  befriended 
the  University  and  a  frieze  showing  scenes  from 
the^'Kalevala." 

The  Diet  House,  where  the  laws  are  made, 
was  of  particular  interest  to  me  as  the  only 
Parliament  House  I  had  ever  seen  where  women 


30  FINLAND 

were  permitted  to  take  part.  I  recall  that  as  I 
stood  gazing  up  the  broad  stairway  at  the  en- 
trance a  beautiful  yellow  light  shone  upon  the 
strong  woman  in  bronze,  standing  before  a 
massive  lion  holding  in  her  hand  a  shield  on 
which  the  word  *'Lex"  was  engraved.  There 
is  a  delightful  red  and  gold  effect  throughout 
the  building. 

To-day  these  Finlanders  are  fighting  for  their 
laws,  their  constitutional  rights,  fighting  with 
tongue  and  pen,  for  on  the  15th  of  February, 
1899,  was  issued  the  Imperial  Manifesto  which, 
if  carried  out,  will  destroy, — is  destroying, — 
the  autonomy  of  this  little  nation,  and  will  cause 
it  to  be  assimilated  by  the  Russian  Empire, — a 
thought  that  is  poison  to  the  Finnish  mind. 

There  is  an  allegorical  picture  in  Finland  of 
a  woman  wrenching  from  an  eagle  a  large  book. 
The  eagle  is  supposed  to  typify  Russia  about 
to  take  from  Finland  her  book  of  laws,  and  the 
woman  is  holding  on  to  it  with  the  tenacity  of 
death.  I  remember  seeing  a  Russian  officer 
gazing  intently  at  this  picture  in  a  book-store 
window  in  Helsingfors. 

A  few  days  after  my  arrival  in  Helsingfors 
someone  suggested  a  steamer  trip  to  the 
''idyllic"  little  town  of  Ekenas,  where  there  is 
a  seminary  for  training  teachers.  They  knew 
a  Methodist  minister  living  there  who  could 


SYMBOLICAL  PICTURE 


Facing  page  30 


FINLAND  31 

speak  English,  and  they  would  telephone  to 
him  to  meet  me. 

Quite  the  thing !  A t  8  o  'clock  the  next  morn- 
ing I  was  on  my  way  to  the  "idyllic"  little  town 
of  Ekenas.  It  was  a  "pretty"  day,  as  a  North 
Carolinian  would  say,  and  every  feature  of  the 
trip  was  interesting, — the  little  green  islands, 
the  boats,  the  people,  the  white  cairnes  that 
mark  the  pilot's  way. 

These  little  steamer  trips  throughout  Finland 
are  uniformly  delightful,  often  captained  by 
men  who  have  sailed  the  world  over,  and  who 
therefore  speak  English.  There  are  nice  little 
maids  to  answer  your  call  with  a  dainty  tray  of 
food,  and  they  are  glad  to  do  so.  The  steam- 
ers move  in  and  out  among  the  islands,  giving 
you  an  insight  into  the  island  life  of  Finland, 
which  is  the  life  of  the  people  in  summer. 

Ekenas  came  into  view  at  about  3  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon.  No  one  being  at  the  wharf  to 
meet  me,  I  strolled  along  the  pier,  and  onto  the 
road.     In  a  few  minutes  I  met  a  young  man. 

"Miss  Gray?"  he  asked. 

"Yah,  yah;  Methodist  minister?" 

"Methodist  minister?  Nay;  nay  Methodist 
minister." 

"I  am  Miss  Gray.  Are  you  the  Methodist 
minister?" 

"Nay  Methodist  minister;  nay,  nay." 


32  FINLAND 

''Who  are  you,  then?"  I  mentally  queried. 
But  as  he  knew  my  name  I  decided  it  was  all 
right,  and  got  into  the  drosky,  as  directed. 

In  a  few  minutes  the  drosky  stopped  before  a 
pension,  and  two  pleasant-faced  ladies  met  us 
in  the  hall;  one,  with  cropped  hair,  a  neighbor 
doubtless,  came  in  as  we  were  standing  there. 

We  formed  a  circle  and  did  the  sign  lan- 
guage. 

As  time  was  precious,  I  signified  that  I  would 
like  to  have  refreshments,  and  then  take  a 
drive  about  the  town. 

After  we  had  had  refreshments  the  drosky 
came  and  carried  us  to  the  seminary  grounds, 
and  then  through  a  nice  little  park  to  a  fine 
water  view. 

I  brought  up  the  Methodist  minister  question 
again,  but  I  could  not  understand  whatever  ex- 
planation was  offered. 

On  returning  we  came  to  an  old  church,  set  in 
old-fashioned  grounds.  The  young  man  indi- 
cated that  we  might  go  in.  There  was  a  roman- 
tic air  about  the  edifice,  a  suggestion  that  there 
might  be  old  paintings  inside,  which  appealed 
to  me;  so  I  consented. 

The  young  man  went  into  the  rectory  for  the 
key,  and  came  back  with  both  the  key  and  the 
preacher. 

Sure  enough  there  was  a  fine  painting  of  the 


FINLAND  33 

crucifixion  in  the  building;  and  there  was  also 
an  atmosphere  well  worth  enjoying. 

Then  I  suggested  to  the  young  man  that  I 
would  take  the  8  o'clock  train  back  to  Helsing- 
fors.  It  was  not  far  from  the  time  for  the 
train,  so  we  strolled  tow^ard  the  station,  meet- 
ing quite  a  number  of  persons  in  Russian  uni- 
forms on  the  way. 

I  am  not  sure,  I  wouldn't  swear  to  it,  but  I 
thought  I  detected  a  little  gleam  of  relief  in  the 
young  man's  eye  as  the  train  rolled  away  from 
the  * 'idyllic"  little  town  of  Ekenas. 

From  that  day  to  this  I  have  never  had  the 
opportunity  of  learning  more  about  the  Metho- 
dist minister. 

My  second  steamer  trip  was  to  Borga,  the 
most  captivating  little  town  in  Finland. 

I  was  met  at  the  steamer  by  a  delightful 
Swedish-Finn  lady  who  carried  me  off  in  her 
automobile  to  see  the  many  interesting  things 
to  be  seen  in  Borga.  Most  interesting  of  all  is 
the  Cathedral,  for  it  was  there  that  the  great 
Tsar  Alexander  I,  of  Russia, — God  bless  him 
(little  thought  I  before  I  went  to  Finland  that 
I  would  ever  say  "God  bless  him"  about  a 
Tsar) ! — assembled  the  officials  and  representa- 
tives of  Finland  in  1809  and  commanded  his 
Governor-General  to  read  the  following  an- 
nouncement : 


34  FINLAND 

''Providence  having  placed  US  in  possession 
of  the  Grand  Duchy  of  Finland,  we  have  desired 
by  the  present  act  to  confirm  and  ratify  the  re- 
ligion and  the  fundamental  laws  of  the  land,  as 
well  as  the  privileges  and  rights  to  which  each 
class  of  the  said  Grand  Duchy  in  particular,  and 
all  the  inhabitants  in  general,  be  their  position 
high  or  low,  have  hitherto  engaged  according 
to  the  constitution.  We  promise  to  maintain 
all  these  benefits  and  laws  firm  and  unshaken 
in  their  full  force. ' ' 

Then  the  oaths  of  allegiance  were  made,  and 
then  the  Grand  Duke  of  Finland,  the  Tsar  of 
the  Russias,  to  the  people  thereunto  assembled, 
said  as  follows  in  French : 

' '  This  brave  and  loyal  people  will  be  grateful 
to  that  Providence  who  has  brought  about  the 
present  state  of  affairs.  Placed  from  this  time 
forward  in  the  rank  of  nations,  governed  by  its 
own  laws,  it  will  only  call  to  mind  its  former 
rulers  in  order  to  cultivate  friendly  relations 
when  these  shall  have  been  re-established  by 
peace.  And  I  shall  have  reaped  the  best  results 
for  my  solicitude  when  I  see  this  nation  exter- 
nally tranquil,  internally  free,  devoting  itself 
to  agriculture  and  industry,  under  the  protec- 
tion of  its  laws  and  of  its  good  manners,  and 


FINLAND  35 

thus  by  the  very  fact  of  its  prosperity  doing 
justice  to  my  intention  and  blessing  its  lot." 

Over  the  altar  there  is  a  large  oil  painting 
showing  the  signing  of  the  constitution,  and  a 
fine  bronze  statue  of  the  Tsar  is  near  by.  As  I 
hearkened,  in  fancy,  to  the  thrilling  words  that 
seemed  to  resound  throughout  the  sacred  build- 
ing,— ^words  that  marked  the  founding  of  a 
nation, — something  moved  me  to  step  up  to  the 
statue  and  reverently  lay  at  the  feet  of  the 
great  conqueror  a  red  and  a  white  rose. 

In  1863  another  Tsar  gave  to  Finland  a  con- 
stitution, her  own  monetary  system,  and  her 
own  military  organization;  and  the  beautiful 
statue  of  this  noble  ruler  in  the  Senate  Square 
at  Helsingfors  is  frequently  covered  with  flow- 
ers by  a  grateful  people. 

Alexander  III,  too,  was  fond  of  the  Finns, 
to  the  extent  that  jealousy  was  excited  in  his 
Empire.  He  loved  to  hear  the  students  sing 
their  national  anthem. 

Under  the  wing  of  a  Power  that  we  are 
pleased  sometimes  to  term  "Barbarous  Rus- 
sia" there  has  been  developed  a  people  the 
most  democratic,  the  most  liberty-loving  in  the 
world  to-day;  and  few  nations  are  capable  of 
conducting  their  own  affairs  so  well.  If  Rus- 
sia could  do  as  well  with  all  her  peoples,  it  would 
be  good  to  live  under  Russian  rule. 


36  FINLAND 

But  sometimes  the  green-eyed  monster  be- 
comes the  creator  of  the  "most  fit."  Russia  is 
in  a  jealous  mood  to-day,  and  members  of  the 
Russo-Finnish  Committee,  formed  in  Europe 
to  investigate  the  right  and  the  wrong  of  the 
Russo-Finnish  conflict,  use  such  phrases  as 
these : 

**An  Imperial  law  cannot  violate  the  consti- 
tution of  a  province,  for  the  simple  reason  that 
the  latter  is  an  integral  part  of  the  former." 

*'It  is  not  the  Finnish  legislation  that  deter- 
mines the  scope  of  Russia's  Imperial  autliority; 
to  the  contrary,  it  is  the  legislation  of  Russia, 
as  the  sovereign  power,  that  determines  the 
sphere  of  Finland's  special  institutions." 

''The  Imperial  power  of  Russia  has  never 
been  able  ...  to  give  Finland  .  .  .  such  an 
autonomy  as  runs  counter  to  the  phrase  'which 
forms  an  inseparable  part  of  the  Russian  Em- 
pire,' or  clashes  with  the  doctrine  .  .  .  'the 
Russian  Empire  is  one  and  indivisible.'  " 

"If,  in  1809,  no  need  existed  for  a  closer  union 
of  the  boundary  territory  with  the  center  .  .  . 
should  it  really  follow  from  this  that  the  Em- 
pire ought  not  in  1909  to  embark  on  measures 
to  effect  a  closer  union  between  the  boundary 
territory  and  the  center  of  the  Empire,  however 
pressingly  Russian  interests  may  demand  this ; 
.  .  .  new  demands  arise. ' ' 


FINLAND  37 

All  these  years  Russia  lias  lived,  yet  she  has 
never  found  out  until  to-day  that  she  did  not 
believe  Finland  to  be  a  nation.  When  the  fa- 
mous manifesto  was  made  known  in  1899  the 
Finlanders  met  it  with  grief  and  indignation; 
they  had  already  been  visited  by  a  bit  of  news 
to  the  effect  that  the  Finnish  military  organiza- 
tion must  be  abolished  and  the  Finnish  soldiers 
incorporated  into  the  Russian  Army.  The  peo- 
ple of  Finland  at  once  drew  up  a  petition  pray- 
ing his  Imperial  Majesty  to  reconsider  the  mat- 
ter. It  was  signed  by  thousands  of  people,  with 
sorrowful  hearts. 

Gaiety  ceased;  women  went  into  mourning, 
shops  were  closed,  and  the  statue  of  Alexander 
II  wore  a  crepe  band. 

There  are  no  books  on  government  as  thus 
applied, — save  those  of  Locke  and  Rousseau, — 
that  do  not  teach  that  Might  is  Right.  Russia 
is  too  small ;  she  needs  more  territory,  and  civ- 
ilisation must  die  in  order  that  she  may  get 
what  she  wants. 

Destruction  began.  Rather  than  be  con- 
scripted into  the  Russian  Army,  thousands 
upon  thousands  of  Finns  left  the  country ;  in  one 
year, — 1909, — as  many  as  29,364  left.  The 
Finns  have  formed  a  habit  of  emigrating, 
though  it  is  no  longer  necessary  for  them  to 
enter  the  Russian  Army. 


38  FINLAND 

To  increase  the  trouble,  one  Bobrikoff  was 
made  Governor-General  of  the  country,  and  his 
policy  was  anything  but  right.  The  Finns 
manifested  their  disapproval :  when  it  was  nec- 
essary to  use  Russian  stamps  they  placed  Fin- 
nish stamps  by  the  side  of  them, — black,  show- 
ing the  red  arms  of  Finland ;  w^hen  the  newspa- 
pers in  Finland  are  forbidden  to  discuss  ques- 
tions a  paper  is  published  in  Sweden  and  is  sent 
over  to  Finland  incognito,  some  say  in  butter- 
tubs.  All  over  the  land  are  held  meetings 
where  the  kerchief  women  and  aristocrats  sit 
side  by  side.  *'We  thought  we  must  educate 
them, ' '  one  lady  said  to  me,  * '  so  that  they  may 
be  able  to  think  for  themselves." 

When  the  Governor-General  appeared  in  the 
streets  the  Finns  found  something  to  do  on  the 
sidewalk  opposite;  when  they  were  ordered  to 
do  things  that  conflicted  with  their  fundamental 
laws  they  preferred  to  go  to  prison;  neither 
censorship  nor  prison  bars  can  frighten  a  Finn. 
They  broke  into  the  houses  of  Russians  who 
were  living  in  Finland  and  made  them  put  out 
their  lights.  The  spirit  of  '' Liberty"  was 
working  in  them, — the  spirit  of  the  divine  Right 
of  Man. 

At  length,  on  a  summer  day,  June  16,  1904, 
the  Russian  Bobrikoff  was  removed  from  their 


FINLAND  39 

midst,  and  he  who  fired  the  shot  lodged  a  bullet 
in  his  own  body  a  moment  afterward. 

But  we  have  tarried  long  enough  in  the  hal- 
lowed cathedral  of  Borga,  in  which  Finland  was 
invested  with  nationhood,  for  there  is  the  Mu- 
seum to  visit  and  other  sights  to  be  seen.  What 
most  impressed  me  in  the  Museum  was  the  glass 
case,  showing  several  uniforms  of  the  Finnish 
Military,  for  which  organisation  the  bugle-call 
will  sound  no  more.  From  the  Museum  we 
went  to  the  last  home  of  Runeberg,  the  patriot 
poet,  who  wrote  the  national  anthem.  There 
one  sees  a  looking-glass  arranged  on  the  wall 
at  the  foot  of  the  bed  upon  which  he  died, — ar- 
ranged so  that  the  poet  could  w^atch  the  birds 
outside  on  the  window-ledge  eating  the  food 
placed  there  for  them,  for  the  bed  was  set  facing 
the  wall  in  order  to  protect  his  eyes  from  the 
glare. 

We  went  in  an  automobile  to  the  cemetery. 
Everywhere,  as  we  go,  are  delightful  water 
views.  At  the  poet's  grave  I  placed  a  red  and 
a  white  rose,  and  on  the  granite  steps  of  the 
monument  to  Eugen  Schauman,  the  youth  who 
*' fired  the  patriotic  shot,"  I  also  reverently  put 
a  red  and  a  white  rose. 

Schauman 's  picture  is  to  be  found  in  the 
homes  of  the  Finns,  with  the  descriptive  words : 
''He  gave  his  life  for  his  people." 


CHAPTER  III 

COUNTRY  LIFE 

Borga  —  Little  Red  Farm-houses  —  Homes  of  the  Gentry  — 
Dairying  —  Peasant  Interest  in  Public  Affairs — "  Savi- 
jSrvi  " —  The  Finnish  Bath  —  Peasant  Proprietors  —  Elec- 
tioneering —  A  Woman  Candidate  —  Politics  .over  the  Tea- 
cups —  How  Woman  Suffrage  Came  —  The  Kerchief 
Women. 

At  Borga  there  is  a  fine  natural  tower,  a  great 
boulder  of  granite,  and  there  are  many  such 
places  all  over  Finland.  From  them  one  may 
see  many  magnificent  views,  and  there  is  a 
long,  long  road  through  a  pretty  farm  country 
of  firs  and  pines  and  birches,  and  there  are 
stone-hills  out  of  which  the  birches  and  pines 
and  firs  appear  to  be  growing.  There  are 
stacks  of  hay  and  growing  oats,  and  little  red 
farm-houses,  some  with  black  roofs,  some  with 
red;  and  then  there  is  the  beautiful  country 
home  of  a  Swedish-Finn  family, — ^'Savijarvi." 

Life  in  a  country  home  of  the  gentry  class  is 
the  same  in  Finland  as  it  is  elsewhere.  Per- 
haps there  is  more  al  fresco  living  in  Finland, 
for  the  people  literally  live  out  of  doors  in 

40 


FINLAND  41 

their  precious  summer  moments.  The  land- 
scape shows  a  rolling  country  with  boulders  of 
rock  and  water  pictures,  and  with  birches  and 
pines  and  firs  crowded  in.  Then  there  are 
pretty  flower  beds,  a  park,  and  glimpses  of  busy 
haymakers. 

Dairying  being  the  second  great  industry  of 
Finland,  it  was  interesting  to  visit  the  stables 
where  were  to  be  found  fine  cattle  and  horses. 
The  tenant  system  is  practised  here,  and  there 
is  also  the  laborer  who  is  paid  for  his  work. 
Finnish  peasants  are  fond  of  reading,  and  as 
I  passed  a  circle  of  them  sitting  on  the  grass  at 
the  noon  hour  one  was  reading  a  newspaper  to 
a  responsive  audience.  We  were  on  our  way  to 
a  laborer's  cottage  where  bread  was  being 
made, — Finnish  bread,  the  prevailing  kind  used 
by  the  peasants,  being  in  the  shape  of  a  big  ring 
with  a  hole  in  the  middle,  to  permit  of  its  being 
strung  across  in  the  room.  The  bread  is  some- 
times baked  twice  a  week,  but  often  it  is  baked 
only  twice  a  year. 

At  ''Savijarvi"  I  made  the  acquaintance  of 
the  Finnish  bath.  Every  house  has  its  ' '  sauna ' ' 
or  bath-house,  which  is  arranged  something  like 
this:  a  fire  is  made  in  an  oven  which  heats  a 
pile  of  stones,  over  which  water  is  poured ;  and 
the  steam  rising  heats  the  bath-house  to  some- 
thing like  boiling  heat.    In  the  evening,  after 


42  FINLAND 

the  harvest,  come  the  peasants, — men,  women, 
and  children,  some  of  them  clothed  only  in  their 
skins  (the  Finlanders  are  not  ashamed  of  their 
skin), — and  take  their  places  on  the  tiers  of 
benches  along  the  walls.  They  switch  them- 
selves and  each  other  vigorously  with  birch 
switches,  dipped  in  steaming  water  to  soften 
them,  after  which  comes  scrubbing  and  rub- 
bing,— the  massage, — and  perhaps  a  run  for  a 
dip  in  the  lake,  or,  if  it  be  winter,  a  roll  in  the 
snow.  I  have  not  given  a  complete  descrip- 
tion. You  must  go  over  to  Finland  and  sample 
the  Finnish  bath  for  yourself,  and  you  will  find 
that  you  have  never  been  clean  before ;  at  least, 
that  is  what  they  say.  In  summer  the  peasants 
bathe  every  evening;  in  winter,  every  Satur- 
day. The  family  at  the  big  house  take  their 
baths  at  other  times,  and  heating  the  bath- 
house is  quite  a  business. 

One  afternoon  I  learned  what  a  ''peasant 
proprietor"  is,  and  then  I  knew  why  a  land  is 
rich  that  includes  many  or  any  of  the  "bonder 
class"  in  its  population.  There  is  a  satisfac- 
tion in  the  well-to-do  air  that  pervades  one  of 
their  farms,  from  the  superior  farm-house  to 
the  fine  stable  with  its  well-kept  cows.  A  peep 
into  the  dwelling  shows  a  spinning-wheel  and  a 
Grandfather's  clock,  and  home-made  things 
a-plenty,  and  tiled  chimneys. 


FINLAND  43 

One  of  these  peasant  proprietors,  although 
well-to-do  and  having  a  brother  who  follows  a 
profession,  always  signs  '* peasant"  after  his 
name.  He  is  proud  of  it.  He  is  hale  and  hearty 
and  peasant-faced,  albeit  he  could  buy  you  out 
mayhap.  The  other  was  proprietored  by  a 
widow.  In  the  hall,  hanging  on  the  rack,  I  no- 
ticed a  little  white  velvet  cap  with  the  laurel 
wreatli  and  lyre.  I  was  told  that  one  of  the 
daughters  had  been  to  a  dairy  school  to  prepare 
herself  to  take  care  of  cows  and  the  other  to  an 
agricultural  school  to  prepare  herself  for  car- 
ing for  poultry. 

Dairying  is  the  principal  business  on  these 
farms,  although  wood  is  sold  from  them,  and 
vegetables  are  raised, — the  same  as  we  have: 
beets,  potatoes,  peas,  onions,  pie-plant,  aspara- 
gus, tomatoes,  and  cabbages. 

But  electioneering  is  on  in  Helsingfors — all 
over  Finland  for  that  matter.  I  hadn't  been 
thirty-six  hours  in  the  most  northernmost  little 
capital  of  Europe  before  I  was  talking  politics 
over  the  teacups  with  a  lady  who  was  a  candi- 
date for  election.  I  met  a  number  of  these  fine 
women,  so  splendidly  wide-awake,  yet  with  no 
disagreeably  antagonising  assertiveness  in 
their  manners.  Indeed,  the  Finland  women  are 
in  the  political  world  because  the  men  found 
they  couldn't  do  mthout  them.     Their  being 


44  FINLAND 

there  came  about  naturally.  In  the  early  days 
of  their  sorrow,  when  the  Russian  Tsar  inti- 
mated by  manifesto  his  desire  to  destroy  them, 
they  showed  such  amazing  capability  that  when 
the  Tsar  changed  his  autocratic  mind, — changed 
it  for  a  while,  at  least, — the  women  were  already 
in  the  political  world,  and  adult  suffrage  was  a 
mere  matter  of  happening,  sanctioned  by  the 
Tsar  of  all  the  Russias. 

The  several  political  meetings  I  attended  I 
cherish  as  among  my  most  agreeable  memories 
of  Finland.  Although  the  language  was  Greek 
to  me,  there  was  generally  someone  present 
who  could  give  me  the  gist  of  the  talk ;  and  then 
there  was  in  the  atmosphere  an  indefinable 
something  that  said  to  me:  ''It  is  well!" 

Nothing  interested  me  more  at  these  meet- 
ings than  to  watch  the  keen,  penetrating, — I 
may  almost  say  analytical, — faces  of  the  peas- 
ant women  of  Finland, — the  Kerchief  women, 
the  women  who  go  barefoot  in  their  round  of 
work,  who  wear  cotton  clothes,  who  put  hand- 
kerchiefs over  their  heads  and  tie  them  under 
their  chins.  They  are  not  pretty,  these  Ker- 
chief women  of  Finland;  there  is  nothing  coy 
about  them,  nothing  simple-minded,  but  better 
than  that,  they  are  strong  in  mind  and  body. 

In  a  country  district  the  person  that  makes 
speeches  for  a  candidate  is  asked  over  and  over 


FINLAND  45 

again  by  these  women,  "Has  she  the  courage 
to  stand  out  against  Russia!"  And  when  they 
are  satisfied  that  she  has  the  courage  to  say 
"No"  to  Russia,  then  they  decide  to  vote  for 
her.  One  of  them  remarked  that  it  seemed 
strange  to  her  now  that  women  did  not  always 
have  the  vote. 

"What  do  you  say  to  them?"  I  asked  a  can- 
didate of  the  Swedish  National  party.  She  re- 
plied: "That  we  must  first  of  all  stand  for  our 
constitutional  rights,  fight  for  them;  that  if 
we  once  give  way,  it  will  he  almost  impossible 
to  retrieve.  If  you  build  a  house  of  five  stories 
you  must  see  to  it  first  that  the  ground  upon 
which  you  build  it  is  safe.  I  tell  them  that  the 
duty  of  every  Finnish  citizen  is  first  of  all  to 
stand  against  Russian  encroachments.  And 
then  I  tell  them  that  we,  the  Swedish-speaking 
Finns,  must  think  of  our  nationality  and  send 
the  best  people  to  the  Diet  to  defend  our  Swed- 
ish-speaking people." 


CHAPTER  IV 

FINLAND'S  INTERNAL  CONFLICT 

Population  —  Finnish-Finns  and  Swedish  Finns  —  Language  — 
Political  Parties  —  Women  in  Parliament  —  Women 
Bankers,  Barbers,  Station-masters  — "  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  " 
— "  The  Workmen's  House  " —  Cooking  —  Garden-Schools 
—  Women  Voting. 

And  now  I  will  tell  you  something  about  the 
internal  conflict  of  Finland.  You  remember  I 
said  there  was  a  population  in  Finland  of  one- 
eighth  Swedish-speaking  people  and  seven- 
eighths  Finnish-speaking  people.  Until  within 
the  last  few  decades  the  Swedish-speaking  peo- 
ple ruled  the  land.  It  was  a  case  of  one-eighth 
knowledge,  representing  power,  ruling  seven- 
eighths  ignorance,  representing  blindness. 
The  Finns  proper  were  the  working  class,  and 
they  had  not  the  knowledge  nor  the  power  to 
see  that  they  were  not  masters  in  their  own 
land.  On  the  other  hand  the  Swedes,  belong- 
ing to  the  conquering  people,  got  the  early 
start,  which  Economics  teaches  us  means  so 
much. 

Naturally  enough,  the  language  of  the  con- 

46 


FINLAND  47 

quering  people  became  the  language  of  the  gov- 
ernment, of  the  University,  of  polite  society  in 
Finland,  and  the  language  of  the  conquered  be- 
came a  language  of  contempt.  But  one  day, 
as  it  were,  the  Finns  woke  up  from  their  deep 
sleep  of  centuries,  and  led  by  a  few  great  souls, 
they  have  learned  to  appreciate  and  love  their 
own  language,  their  own  poetry,  their  own  his- 
tory and  traditions,  their  own  things. 

And  to-day  in  Finland  it  is  "Finland  for 
the  Finns"! 

They  appeared  suddenly,  like  the  Huns  of 
old,  at  the  door  of  the  University  and  demanded 
that  the  Finnish  language  should  be  used  in  the 
University.  They  knocked  at  the  door  of  the 
Government,  and  demanded  that  the  Finnish 
language  should  be  used  there  and  in  the 
schools.  To-day  they  demand  that  the  Fin- 
nish language  shall  be  the  national  language  of 
Finland,  that  it  shall  be  used  in  the  govern- 
ment, in  the  schools,  in  the  streets, — every- 
where. As  one  of  them  said  to  me:  "We 
admire  the  Swedes  more  than  any  other  people ; 
we  admire  their  culture  and  their  character, 
but  this  is  Finland.  When  it  comes  to  the 
question  to  whom  does  Finland  belong  we  know 
it  is  to  the  Finns." 

And  these  Swedish-Finns,  a  noble  body  of 
people,  feel  themselves  ill-treated. 


48  FINLAND 

''Our  descendants  will  speak  Finnish," 
I  heard  one  of  them  say  sorrowfully. 

The  Finns  do  not  forget  that  the  Swedes 
brought  their  language  into  contempt  and 
fought  against  its  rise  as  hard  as  ever  they 
could.  There  are  many  things  that  they  re- 
member. The  quarrel  was  a  bitter  one,  but 
when  Russia's  devastating  hand  threatened 
them  both,  they  stood  side  by  side  against  her, 
— neither  party,  however,  weakening  in  its  con- 
victions. 

There  are  four  principal  political  parties  in 
Finland.  I  will  give  them  in  their  numerical 
order, — Social-Democratic,  Old  Finn,  Young 
Finn,  and  Swedish, 

One  afternoon  I  took  tea  with  a  Young  Finn 
on  a  pretty  begoniaed  gallery  that  overlooks  a 
magnificent  water  view,  where  loomed  several 
Russian  battle-ships. 

"How  beautiful  your  flowers  are,"  I  re- 
marked. 

''Yes,"  she  answered;  "it  just  shows  what 
women  who  vote  can  do.  I  just  stuck  those 
cuttings  in  the  ground  and  they  grew.  Here's 
another  example  of  what  women  who  vote  can 
do,"  and  she  handed  me  a  dish  of  cakes  that 
she  herself  had  made. 

"How  do  you  like  those  Russian  battle-ships 
over  yonder?"  I  asked. 


FINLAND  49 

**I  never  look  at  them,  and  I  never  have  them 
in  my  pictures,"  and  she  handed  me  a  photo- 
graph of  the  view  we  were  admiring,  in  which 
there  were  no  battle-ships.  ''But  I  believe 
there  are  many  people  in  Russia  who  sympa- 
thise with  us.  They  believe  the  Tsar  is  weak, 
afraid. ' ' 

''You  Finland  women  are  wonderful;  you  are 
in  everything, ' '  I  said,  between  sips  of  tea.  ' '  I 
passed  a  barber's  shop  the  other  day  and  saw  a 
woman  cutting  a  man's  hair.  I  counted  nine 
women  in  the  bank  that  your  party  founded. 
You  may  purchase  a  railway  ticket  from  a 
woman, — you.  How  is  it  all  going  to  turn 
out?" 

"That  is  a  question  of  the  future, — how  the 
children  are  going  to  grow  up  when  both  pa- 
rents go  out  to  work.  There  is  a  family  here, 
— both  parents  go  out  to  work, — and  one  day 
their  little  girl  fell  from  the  third-story  win- 
dow." 

' '  Horrible ! "  I  exclaimed,  hastily  putting  my 
teacup  on  the  table. 

"But  she  didn't  lose  a  hair  of  her  head," 
quickly  replied  that  lady  of  the  Young  Finn 
party.  "There  are  women  who  stay  at  home, 
too,  whose  children  fall  out  of  windows.  Isn't 
it  so?" 

One  afternoon  I  '*tea-d"  with  a  doctor  of 


50  FINLAND 

philosophy,  a  brainy  woman,  a  writer  of  books, 
and  the  editor  of  a  paper, — a  woman  who  had 
run  four  times  for  Parliament,  and  four  times 
had  been  defeated.  The  trouble  was  that  she 
was  not  sufficiently  partisan  in  her  feelings. 
In  her  composition  there  was  a  mixture  of 
Swede,  Finn,  French,  and  Russian. 

We  were  sitting  in  a  large  drawing-room 
where  there  were  large  paintings  on  the  wall. 
Once,  when  I  looked  up  suddenly  from  my  tea- 
cup, I  found  her  gazing  intently  at  me.  These 
Finlanders  are  a  thinking  people, — inquisi- 
tive, speculative,  eager  to  know.  They  are  a 
"study."     My  eyes  questioned   her. 

*'Was  what  Mrs.  Beecher  Stowe  said  in  'Un- 
cle Tom's  Cabin'  true?"  she  replied,  speak- 
ing slowly  and  feelingly.  "How  I  have  wept 
and  wept  over  that  book!!  It  was  published 
first  in  Swedish;  there  are  two  translations  of 
it  in  Finnish, — one  for  grown  people,  one  for 
children.  The  little  children  begin  to  read  it 
when  they  are  ten  years  old ;  they  read  it  more 
than  any  other  book.  I  translated  the  chil- 
dren's book.  I  never  met  but  one  other  person 
from  the  Southern  American  States, — a  lady 
from  Tennessee, — and  you  are  like  her;  I  rec- 
ognise the  type,  entirely  different  from  that  of 
the  Northern  States.     Climate  makes  a  differ- 


FINLAND  51 

ence  in  people.  That  lady  told  me  that  the 
story  was  not  true  to  life." 

My  thoug-hts  traveled  reluctantly  back  to  the 
book  and  its  horrible  subject. 

'*A  little  of  it  was  true, — a  little  of  it,"  I  re- 
plied. ''But  don't  believe  what  New  England 
writes  about  the  South.  She  has  been  perse- 
cuting the  Southern  people  ever  since  they  gave 
up  so  much  to  get  her  out  of  her  troubles  with 
England.  Mrs.  Beecher  Stowe  had  never  been 
in  the  South  when  she  wrote  that  book.  AVliy 
did  the  New  Englanders  never  lift  their  voices 
against  the  slave-ships  that  went  out  of  New 
England  docks  to  engage  in  the  horrible  middle 
passage? — And  their  rum  trade?  Because  it 
has  always  been  the  endeavor  of  New  England 
to  deceive  the  world  as  to  New  England  vices. 
Gain  is  their  G  od. ' ' 

"But  Charles  Dickens?"  she  asked. 

"He  stopped  in  Boston  before  he  came 
South,"  I  replied;  "and  can't  you  just  see  the 
Yankees  slandering  the  South  to  him?" 

A  huge  grey  granite  mass  standing  on  the 
brink  of  the  water  in  the  Industrial  center  of 
Helsingfors  had  for  some  time  interested  me. 
It  is  the  "People's  Palace,"  the  "Workmen's 
House,"  the  headquarters  of  the  "Social-Dem- 
ocratic" Party. 


52  FINLAND 

Thither  I  directed  my  way  on  a  silvern  after- 
noon. I  had  heard  there  was  to  be  a  meeting 
there.  Among  the  men  and  women,  old  and 
young,  moving  about  the  place  I  could  find 
none  who  could  interpret  my  jargon,  so  I  made 
as  complete  a  survey  of  the  place  as  I  could 
without  an  interpreter.  I  traveled  from  the 
base  of  the  building  to  the  top  and  peeped  into 
all  the  open  rooms;  the  immense  Assembly 
Hall,  the  largest  in  Finland,  was  closed,  so  evi- 
dently I  had  made  a  mistake  about  the  meet- 
ing. But  the  best  part  of  the  building  was 
open.  I  saw  several  young  women  push 
through  an  open  door,  so  I  pushed  through  too, 
and  found  myself  in — a  model  kitchen.  A  de- 
lightful, smiling  person, — the  head  of  the  de- 
partment,— came  forward  to  greet  me,  and  I  in- 
dicated to  her  my  desire  to  look  around.  Ev- 
erything was  clean  and  neat.  There  were  large 
ranges  on  which  there  were  apples  and  prunes 
and  other  good  things,  and  there  were  also  pails 
of  rich  cream.  After  a  while  she  took  me  to  a 
little  slide  window  through  which  I  could  see 
Socialism  feeding. 

Aristotle  has  given  cooking  a  prime  place 
on  the  pages  of  his  Political  Science,  and  with- 
out doubt  we  would  be  living  on  a  higher  plane 
of  civilization  to-day  if  we  would  regard  cook- 
ing as   important  as   reading,   writing,   spell- 


FINLAND  53 

ing,  and  arithmetic.  In  a  garden  school  that 
I  visited  in  Finland  little  boys  as  well  as  girls 
were  being  taught  to  cook. 

I  was  returning  to  my  domicile  when  I  saw 
from  the  street-car  window  a  crowd  of  people 
in  Kajsaniemi  Park, — the  People's  Park.  They 
were  on  an  elevation  at  one  point  of  which  was 
a  brilliant  red  flag.  It  goes  without  saying 
that  I  dismounted  and  made  my  way  over  to 
the  flag. 

It  was  an  orderly,  still  crowd,  I  found,  of 
men  and  women  and  children  of  from  twelve 
up,  and  I  could  not  help  noticing  the  keenness 
of  the  faces  of  them  all.  A  woman  was  speak- 
ing,— was  it  a  woman?  The  voice  was  strong, 
the  language  deliberate,  flowing.  I  made  my 
way  through  a  little  rift.  No;  it  was  not  a 
woman  speaking.  Underneath  a  man's  straw 
hat  I  saw  a  round,  intellectual,  spirituelle  face ; 
beneath  the  face,  a  man's  collar,  shirt,  cravat, 
and  below  that  a  man's  long  coat.  I  had  not 
seen  such  easy  gestures  in  any  speaker  for  a 
long  time.  I  had  been  standing  there,  charmed, 
for  several  minutes  when  I  saw  peeping  from 
beneath  the  long  coat  an  inch  and  a  half  of — 
petticoat. 

The  next  speaker  was  a  man  of  singular  ap- 
pearance, a  little  beneath  medium  size,  spare, 
nervous,  pale-faced,  with  piercing  black  Intel- 


54  FINLAND 

ligent  eyes.  He  stood  for  several  minutes, 
glancing  restlessly  about  him,  and  then  began 
a  speech  that  I  could  see  was  to  be  altogether 
out  of  the  ordinary.  Afterward  I  learned  that 
he  was  a  well-known  Socialist,  an  idealist, — • 
afraid  of  nothing.  He  had  been  in  prison  sev- 
eral times,  and  had  taken  part  in  a  Revolution. 

There  is  a  party  in  Finland  which  believes 
that  Finland's  only  hope  is  to  fight  for  liberty 
along  with  the  Russian  Nihilists. 

Later,  in  London,  I  met  a  Revolutionary 
Finn,  a  woman  with  an  inspired  face,  who  ex- 
plained to  me  the  meaning  of  "Revolutionist" 
in  Russia, — one  who  is  opposed  to  the  present 
Russian  government.  "Some  day,"  she  said, 
"there  will  be  a  Revolution  in  Russia  the  most 
terrible  that  the  world  has  ever  kno^vn.  But 
our  most  powerful  weapon  is  education,  which 
is  stronger  than  any  Dreadnought." 

I  thought  of  the  schools  of  Finland,  of  its 
beautiful  civilization  that  Russia  is  bent  on 
sapping;  she  will  sap,  sap,  sap,  until  apathy 
sets  in,  and  then  decay.  0  God,  that  such 
power  should  be! 

Perish  the  thought  that  I  should  neglect  to 
tell  you  that  I  learned  how  to  vote  in  Finland. 
The  day  was  pleasant,  the  streets  quiet  as  on  a 
Sunday,  when  I  started  out  to  find  a  voting- 
place. 


FINLAND  55 

Down  near  Senate  Square  I  noticed  some 
people  going  into  a  nice-looking  building, — 
there  are  so  many  nice-looking  buildings  in 
Finland.  They  seemed  to  be  husbands  and 
wives  going  in  together,  then  there  were  others 
who  were  alone.  Some  of  them  belonged  to  the 
first  rank  of  people,  some  to  the  second,  and 
some  were  of  the  Kerchief  class.  I  went  into 
the  hall  and  joined  the  line, — not  a  very  long 
one.  When  I  reached  the  voting-room  I  told 
the  official  at  the  door  that  I  was  a  stranger 
who  would  like  to  observe  the  voting,  and  a  lit- 
tle lady,  stepping  out  of  the  line,  said,  ''Come 
with  me;  I  speak  a  little  English,"  and  she  ex- 
plained to  the  official  what  we  wished  to  do. 

We  entered  a  delightful  hall,  in  the  center  of 
which  was  a  long  table,  and  my  new-found 
friend  presented  her  name  to  the  first  man  to 
whom  we  came,  and  he  looked  for  it  in  the  cat- 
alogue of  cards.  Then  we  moved  on  to  another 
gentleman  who  handed  her  a  long  paper,  and 
then  we  went  into  one  of  the  little  screened 
desks  and  she  put  a  red  mark  opposite  the  name 
of  the  person  for  whom  she  wished  to  vote. 
''That  is  all  there  is  to  do,"  she  said.  There 
was  no  crowd,  no  crush ;  the  place  was  as  silent 
as  a  house  of  prayer. 

When  we  got  outside  I  told  her  that  I  had 
come  all  the  way  from  the  cotton  land  of  Amer- 


56  FINLAND 

ica  to  learn  how  to  vote,  and  that  she  had 
shown  me  how,  whereupon  we  shook  hands  cor- 
dially. 

The  other  voting-place  that  I  saw  was  in  the 
Athenaeum  building,  and  it  was  conducted  in 
the  same  orderly  way. 


CHAPTER  V 

TOUKING  FINLAND 

Finnish  Railways  —  Finnish  Scenery  —  Kotka,  Timber-Port  — 
Saw-Mills  —  Paper  Factories  —  Chip-Hill  Women  —  Vi- 
borg  —  Katrina  — In  St.  Petersburg  —  Passport  —  In  a 
Hospital  —  Home-Rule  for  Finland  and  Poland  —  Saima 
Canal  —  Imatra  —  State  Guards  the  Falls —  Tallulah's 
Fate  —  Passing  of  Southern  Wonders  of  Nature  into 
Alien  Hands  —  Nyslott  —  Knight  Erik's  Castle  —  Effect 
of  Subjection  on  Character  of  a  People  —  Swimming  — 
Punkaharju  —  Delightful  Trips —"  False  Oath  Line  "— 
Kuopio  — In  a  Finnish  Home  —  Why  Finland  may  hold 
her  own  against  Russian  Domination  —  Finnish  Organiza- 
tions —  Encouragement  of  Patriotism  —  How  Peasant  and 
Aristocrat  work  together  for  Finland's  Weal. 

The  danger  of  touring  a  foreign  country, 
without  a  knowledge  of  the  language,  and 
alone,  had  been  presented  to  me  before  I  left 
America.  There  was  no  flaw  in  the  logic  of 
my  advisers  and  they  will  admit  that  they  were 
listened  to  attentively.  Nevertheless,  equipped 
with  a  light,  Finnish  pine-root  bag,  a  Finnish 
phrase  book,  and  some  other  paraphernalia  of 
travel,  I  one  day  set  out  across  the  wide  space 
that  separates  the  Fennia  Hotel  from  the  rail- 
way station.     A  kind  Finn  met  me  at  the  train, 

57 


58  FINLAND 

and  brought  me  a  little  Finnish  birch-bark  bas- 
ket filled  with  nice  things. 

My  itinerary  was  to  begin  and  end  in  Hel- 
singfors, — the  capital  of  the  country, — and  it 
included:  a  peep  into  Eussia,  a  trip  through 
the  famous  Saima  Canal,  shooting  the  rapids, 
touching  the  Arctic  Circle,  thence  down  through 
the  Provinces  that  border  the  Gulf  of  Bothnia. 

But  before  the  whistle  blows  I  would  like  to 
tell  you  something  about  the  Finnish  railways. 

The  Finnish  railways  are  usually  owned  by 
the  State,  and  the  only  drawback  to  them  is  that 
they  are  slow,  the  average  speed  being  twenty- 
six  miles  an  hour,  though  it  is  sometimes  forty. 
Wood  is  used  as  fuel.  Some  time  in  the  'six- 
ties, Finnish  progress  began,  and  Finnish  rail- 
ways are  of  comparatively  recent  date.  The 
people  are  now  beginning  to  demand  greater 
speed. 

Everyone  travels  second  class.  Compared 
with  those  in  America  and  England,  the  cars 
are  delightfully  comfortable.  There  is  an 
agreeable  feeling  that  comfort  and  not  money 
is  the  object, — a  feeling  that  the  Government 
was  instituted  for  the  people, — not  that  the  peo- 
ple are  tied  together  for  the  glory  of  territory, 
with  the  power  and  wealth  all  drawn  into  a 
heap,  as  in  huge,  overgrown  countries  like  Rus- 
sia, the  United  States,  China,  and  India. 


FINLAND  59 

The  seats,  which  are  upholstered  in  mottled 
grey  plush,  are  arranged  like  those  in  our  Pull- 
man sleepers,  facing  each  other;  but  on  one 
side  of  the  aisle  they  are  made  to  hold  three 
persons,  and  on  the  other  side  only  one. 

The  sleeping  berths  are  in  compartments, 
there  being  two  berths  in  each  compartment, 
with  mirror  and  wash-basin,  which  affords 
a  satisfactory  privacy.  In  the  little  hall  that 
runs  along  one  side  of  the  car  are  narrow 
seats  that  may  be  let  down  easily,  so  that  you 
may  observe  from  the  expansive  windows  a 
panorama  of  views  as  the  train  speeds  along. 
The  third  class  coaches  are  finished  entirely  in 
light  wood,  and  are  similar  to  the  second  class 
coaches  in  arrangement. 

It  was  a  pretty  country  through  which  the 
train  sped.  There  were  birches,  and  pines, 
and  firs,  and  ashes,  and  alders,  and  aspens, 
and  there  were  hayfields  galore,  and  beautiful 
water  views,  and  piles  and  piles  and  piles 
again  of  logs  and  lumber.  Timber  is  one  of 
the  great  resources  of  Finland. 

My  first  stopping-place  was  Kotka,  the  larg- 
est port  for  exporting  timber  in  Finland, 
which  is  situated  on  the  KjTiimene  River,  down 
which,  from  the  forests  of  the  interior,  float 
many  hundreds  of  thousands  of  great  logs  dur- 
ing the  open  season.    When  she  numbered  a 


60  FINLAND 

million  logs,  Kotka  used  to  celebrate;  now  she 
cannot  spare  the  time  for  celebrations. 

A  drosky  for  fifteen  cents  conveyed  me  to 
the  Tourist  Hotel,  beautifully  situated,  over- 
looking the  harbor,  and  clean,  comfortable,  and 
cheap.  The  atmosphere  was  propitious,  being 
soft  and  silvery,  and  I  sat  at  my  evening  meal 
where  I  could  look  out  over  a  marine  view, — 
a  view  that  presented  a  great  sawmill  at  the 
left,  a  tiny  island  with  a  clubhouse  in  the  cen- 
ter, and  small  boats  plying  about,  and  afar  out 
barges  and  lighters  loaded  with  timber. 

The  next  morning  I  was  shown  over  one  of 
the  largest  sawmills  in  the  world, — a  mill  that 
operates  in  connection  with  a  factory  for  the 
manufacture  of  pulp,  large  quantities  of  which 
are  sent  to  England  for  the  making  of  paper. 
Indeed,  pulp  promises  to  be  the  leading  indus- 
try of  Finland,  owing  to  her  plentiful  forests 
and  water  power  and  to  the  depletion  of  the 
forests  in  other  parts  of  the  world.  Even 
America  is  calling  for  Finnish  pulp. 

There  are  a  goodly  number  of  paper  facto- 
ries in  Finland,  too.  Russia  is  largely  de- 
pendent upon  Finland  for  paper,  there  being 
very  few  waterfalls  within  her  boundaries 
proper,  and  one  of  the  reasons  why  Russia  has 
not  assimilated  the  Finnish  tariff  is  because  of 


FINLAND  61 

the  obiections  made  by  the  paper-makers   of 
Russia. 

The  sawmills  in  Finland  are  usually  built  on 
the  water's  edge.  It  was  interesting  to  watch 
the  great  logs  at  the  end  of  their  voyage  as 
they  were  being  guided  apparently  without  ef- 
fort,— with  just  a  touch  of  a  forked  pole, — 
from  the  water  into  the  inclined  framework 
that  conveyed  them  to  the  factory,  whence  they 
were  soon  to  emerge  in  the  manufactured  state. 
In  one  large  room  I  noticed  women  working  on 
the  smaller  pieces  of  lumber,  and  in  another 
room  they  were  baling  paper  with  all  the  speed 
of  practice. 

A  large  hill  of  chips,  about  three  stories  in 
height,  had  attracted  my  notice  before  I  en- 
tered the  building.  At  the  top  and  on  the 
sides  of  this  hill  were  women  raking  down  the 
chips,  which  were  being  precipitated  auto- 
matically from  the  building,  and  which  eventu- 
ally would  be  used  for  making  pulp. 

The  twelve  o'clock  whistle  blew  before  we 
came  out,  and  when  I  looked  for  the  chip-hill 
women  they  were  gathered  around  the  chip-hill 
near  the  top,  eating  their  midday  meal.  I 
waved  them  an  adieu  to  which  they  responded. 

The  Russian  fleet  now  and  then  visits  Kot- 
ka's  waters;  and  outside  of  the  town  is  a  little 


62  FINLAND 

cottage  where  good  Alexander  II  was  some- 
times pleased  to  rest  awhile. 

Toward  Viborg  my  thoughts  were  now  di- 
rected,— Viborg,  a  timber  town,  too,  on  a  beau- 
tiful busy  harbor,  sitting  like  an  unafraid 
queen  with  Saint  Petersburg  five  hours  away. 
Viborg  has  a  castle,  and  she  has  a  baronial  es- 
tate that  all  visitors  take  a  look  at,  *'Mon  Ke- 
pos";  and  she  has  the  proverbial  market  space, 
with  a  big  round  tower  in  the  center,  which 
some  unaccredited  soul  has  nicknamed  ''The 
Fat  Katerina." 

That  reminds  me!  Who  should  I  run  into 
in  Viborg  but  "Katrina,"  my  roommate  on  the 
steamer  to  Helsingfors.  She  rushed  up  to  me 
in  her  vivacious  way — I  shouldn't  wonder  if 
Katrina  has  some  Slav  blood  in  her  veins — 
and  we  stood  "Yah,  yahing"  and  ''Nay,  nay- 
ing"  each  other  quite  like  old  times.  Sud- 
denly she  ceased,  and  lifting  a  teacup-shaped 
hand  to  her  lips  as  she  looked  toward  a  restau- 
rant, indicated  to  me  that  she  would  like  me  to 
take  a  cup  of  tea  with  her.  But  time  was 
pressing  me  hard  and  it  was  late,  and  the  next 
morning  I  was  to  enter  the  dominions  of  the 
Tsar.  Katrina  looked  ruefully  at  me.  I  was 
conscious  of  presenting  a  meek  appearance;  to 
tell  the  truth,  I  was  feeling  ill. 

Before   retiring   I    asked    the    lady   of   the 


FINLAND  63 

manor  who  speaks  a  leetle  English,  as  many 
Finlanders  do,  if  there  was  an  English  speak- 
ing doctor  in  the  town.  '*Nay,  nay," — she 
knew  of  none.  Then  the  best  thing  would  be 
to  go  on  to  St.  Petersburg  in  the  morning; 
there  would  of  course  be  English-speaking 
people  in  St.  Petersburg. 

Day  at  last  dawned;  the  hotel  was  near  the 
station.  A  little  Finn  boy  carried  my  bag,  and 
a  kind-faced  Russian  officer  gave  me  his  place 
in  the  car,  so  that  I  could  have  a  lounge  to  rest 
upon  all  the  way  of  my  journey.  There  were 
two  stops, — one  at  Terijoki,  the  Finnish  Cus- 
toms Station;  the  other  at  Bieloostroff,  the 
Russian  Customs  Station, — at  which  I  uncon- 
sciously raised  my  head,  as  my  desire  to  ob- 
serve asserted  itself.  Somehow  Customs  Sta- 
tions always  make  me  shiver;  they  bring  be- 
fore me  the  image  of  James  Madison,  for  the 
economic  decay  of  the  wealthy  Southern  Com- 
munities began  with  the  United  States  Cus- 
toms Houses,  which  have  been  operated  ever 
since  their  beginning  for  the  benefit  of  a 
people  living  in  a  different  section  from 
them. 

Instead  of  going  sightseeing  in  St.  Peters- 
burg, I  went  immediately  to  the  American  Con- 
sul to  inquire  for  an  English-speaking  doctor. 
Yes,  there  was  one.    Had  I  a  passport.     * '  No. ' ' 


64  FINLAND 

— "Then  you  are  liable  to  be  arrested  this 
afternoon." 

Before  I  left  Helsingfors  the  Consul  there 
had  written  to  St.  Petersburg  to  ask  for  one 
for  me.  The  answer  came  back :  "I  don 't  see 
how  Miss  Gray  got  into  Finland  if  she  hadn't 
a  passport.  She  certainly  cannot  come  into 
Russia  without  one." 

He  spoke  of  an  emergency  passport  from 
the  American  Ambassador. 

"But  I  only  intended  passing  the  day 
here,"  I  said;  "and  I  wasn't  going  near  the 
hotels."  The  truth  is,  I  hadn't  exactly  real- 
ised the  passport  business. 

"You  cannot  stay  in  St.  Petersburg  to-night 
without  a  passport,"  he  said. 

In  a  few  minutes  I  was  on  my  way  in  a 
drosky  to  the  doctor's. 

He  was  about  to  accompany  me  to  the  hos- 
pital when  a  telephone  message  came:  "Miss 
Gray  must  go  at  once  to  the  American  Ambas- 
sador's for  a  passport." — Mind  you,  I  could 
scarcely  hold  up  my  head. 

I  managed  to  get  into  a  drosky  and  the 
drosky  man  was  directed  to  drive  to  the  Amer- 
ican Ambassador's.  We  drove  along  for  an 
interminable  time, — or  so  it  seemed  to  me, — 
crossed  the  historic  Neva,  and  passed  the 
statue  of  Peter  the  Great  and  many  notable 


FINLAND  65 

buildings,  some  with  golden  domes  lighting  the 
sky. 

Suddenly  the  drosky  man  stopped  stark 
still.  He  couldn't  find  the  American  Ambas- 
sador's. 

I  indicated  to  him  with  a  little  wave  of  my 
umbrella  to  move  on.  He  moved  on.  When 
we  came  to  a  hotel  I  indicated  to  him  with  a 
little  punch  of  my  umbrella  to  stop.  He 
stopped. 

"American  Ambassador?"  I  said  to  the  man 
who  stood  there  to  open  carriage  doors.  He 
looked  blankly  at  me  and  shook  his  head.  Just 
then  someone  drove  up,  and  he  understood 
that  I  wanted  to  go  to  the  American  Ambassa- 
dor's, so  in  the  course  of  an  hour  I  was  driving 
back  to  the  doctor,  and  he  took  me  to  the  hos- 
pital. 

''You  must  have  that  passport  sent  down  to 
the  police  to-night,"  were  the  words  of  advice, 
as  it  was  handed  to  me.  The  police  never  saw 
it. 

What  a  blessing  it  was  that  Katrina  had 
taught  me  sign  language!  Not  a  nurse  could 
speak  English.  I  know  they  blessed  me,  for 
on  the  afternoon  of  the  third  day  the  doctor 
brought  me  the  Russian  Year  Book  translated 
into  English,  so  that  I  could  obtain  some  sta- 
tistics I  had  asked  for.    At  the  back  was  a  lit- 


66  FINLAND 

tie  vocabulary  in  English  and  Russian.  When 
the  little  maid  presented  herself  later  I  was 
ready  with  "Preeneseeti  tchaineek  tchaiyah 
pozhalooeesta,—Da."  That  is  the  way  she 
had  said  ''Yes"  to  me,  "Da."  ''Bring  me  a 
pot  of  tea,  please, — yes." 

Shall  I  ever  forget  how  pleased  she  was? 
A  peculiarly  charming  expression  began  at  the 
corners  of  her  mouth,  traveled  slowly  up  to  the 
roots  of  her  hair,  gaining  in  brilliancy  and 
loveliness  the  while,  and  seeming  to  spread 
over  her  whole  person.  She  was  Eve  when 
Eve  for  the  first  time  saw  herself  in  the  mir- 
rored waters. 

On  the  fourth  day  I  did  a  little  sightseeing; 
on  the  fifth  I  called  at  the  American  consul's. 

"How  do  you  like  St.  Petersburg?" 

"It  depresses  me." 

"Oh,  of  course,  with  your  experience,  but 
you  should  see  it  from  the  Hotel  de  I'Europe." 

"I'll  have  lunch  there  and  leave  on  an  after- 
noon train  for  Viborg." 

Certainly  St.  Petersburg  did  look  different 
from  the  Hotel  de  I'Europe,  and  the  several 
miles  drive  to  the  station  was  pleasant,  as  the 
sun  played  upon  the  spires  of  St.  Peter  and 
St.  Paul,  the  glittering  dome  of  St.  Isaacs,  the 
tiny  shrines,  and  the  crowds.  Three  wonder- 
fully   imaginative    paintings    presented   them- 


FINLAND  67 

selves  to  me  as  the  Alexander  Musee  came  into 
view  (a  guide  book  liad  directed  me  to  them), 
—the  '' Creation,"  the  "Ninth  Wave,"  and  the 
''Deluge." 

But  oh,  St.  Petersburg  is  depressing, — 
heavy!  So  back  to  little  Finland,  with  her 
three  millions  of  souls  thirsting  for  knowledge ; 
away  from  Russia  with  her  one  hundred  and 
fifty  millions  craving  bejewelled  buildings ! 

But  there  are  lessons  to  be  learned  in  St. 
Petersburg; — the  ivory  and  wood-work  done 
by  Peter  the  Great  typifies  a  busy  life. 

One  word  more  before  I  leave  St.  Peters- 
burg. 

''What  do  you  think  of  the  Russo-Finnish 
conflict?"  I  asked  a  European  of  high  intelli- 
gence, a  resident  there. 

"Oh,  I  haven't  thought  much  about  it." 

"Of  course;  it  doesn't  hurt  you." 

"I  think  she  will  get  what  she  wants." 

"How?" 

"Evolution." 

"When?" 

"Inside  of  ten  years  I  think  both  Poland 
and  Finland  will  have  Home  Rule. ' ' 

Glorious  wave  of  liberty  that  is  spreading 
throughout  the  world!  May  it  become  epi- 
demic! For  Home  Rule  means  self -taxation, 
and  that  group  of  people  that  is  taxed  against 


68  FINLAND 

its  consent,  and  for  the  benefit  of  other  groups, 
is  in  a  state  of  slavery. 

Now  I  was  to  travel  to  one  of  the  most  beau- 
tiful objects  of  nature  in  Europe,  by  way  of 
Viborg, — the  Falls  of  Imatra. 

Viborg  is  a  gate  city.  From  there  many 
tourists  enjoy  a  little  run  over  to  Sorda- 
vala,  which  is  on  Lake  Ladoga,  the  largest  lake 
in  Europe.  On  an  island  in  Lake  Ladoga  there 
is  a  quaint  Russian  monastery  that  is  worth  a 
visit.  Sordavala,  which  is  in  Finland,  has  a 
large  training  school  for  teachers,  an  institu- 
tion to  be  admired,  but  Russia  is  desiring  its 
discontinuance  for  fear  the  Russians  may  suf- 
fer by  its  influence.  Big  Russia,  with  her  789 
illiterates  out  of  every  1,000;  little  Finland, 
with  her  5  out  of  every  1,000. 

The  pleasantest  way  of  reaching  Imatra  is 
by  way  of  the  Saima  Canal,  a  fine  piece  of  en- 
gineering work  to  be  accredited  to  Nils  Eric- 
son,  brother  of  the  Ericson  who  constructed 
the  Monitor.  There  are  thirty-seven  miles  of 
lake  and  canal  scenery  famous  for  its  beauty, 
and  there  are  twenty-eight  granite  locks.  The 
lakes  rise  256  feet  above  the  gulf. 

Unfortunately  the  clouds  began  to  lower  be- 
fore the  little  steamer  left  the  wharf  at  Viborg, 
and  it  rained  steadily  until  Lock  Rattijarvi 
came  into  view.     There  I  left  the  steamer  for 


FINLAND  69 

a  twenty-six-miles  automobile  trip  to  the 
Falls. 

Until  the  automobile  started  my  spirits  were 
in  keeping  with  the  clouds.  Not  a  soul  on 
board  could  understand  English,  and  as  the 
stops  were  not  called  out  I  was  in  fear  that  the 
steamer  would  carry  me  beyond  my  destina- 
tion. But  what  an  exhilarating  ride  that  was 
through  a  country  delightfully  Finnish, — hay- 
fields  and  little  red  houses,  and  great  granite 
boulders,  and  fir  trees.  When  the  roar  of  the 
raging,  mad  beauty  could  be  heard  I  was  im- 
patient to  see  what  so  many  have  praised. 

Standing  at  the  foot  of  the  cliff,  you  may  lift 
your  eyes  from  the  infuriated  rapids  to  a  far- 
away body  of  water,  having  a  surface  as  placid 
as  a  midsummer  night's  dream.  It  is  when 
the  waters  of  ten  hundred  lakes  find  themselves 
impeded  between  impassable  cliffs  that  they 
become  untamable. 

The  State,  jealous  of  its  treasure,  keeps 
guard  over  Imatra.  No  ruthless  destroyer 
could  purchase  it  at  any  price.  Oh  let  us  learn 
at  the  feet  of  Europe  to  appreciate  our  own 
wonders  of  Nature!  The  fate  of  Tallulah 
came  before  me  as  I  stood  there — at  Imatra; 
and  I  prayed  that  the  men  of  Georgia  would 
become  as  the  men  of  Finland,  awake  to  the 
sacred  duty  of  saving  for  the  children  of  the 


70  FINLAND 

State  the  property  that  belongs  to  them.  Stone 
Mountain  has  gone,  the  Peaks  of  Otter,  Nat- 
ural Bridge;  even  Jamestown  Church  went, 
but  was  returned  as  a  gift.  And  are  we  the 
better  off  for  this  mad  absorption  of  our  most 
valuable  properties  by  alien  capital? 

I  offer  a  challenge.  Study  Finland,  study 
Norway,  study  Denmark,  Switzerland,  Sweden, 
England,  Germany,  France, — any  civilised 
country, — and  prove  to  me,  if  you  can,  that 
the  women  and  children  of  the  Southern  States 
of  the  American  Union  in  comforts,  in  op])or- 
tunities  for  study,  for  travel,  for  making  a  Uv- 
ing,  in  the  standard  of  living,  do  not  average 
lower  than  any  of  them.  And  this  is  the  rich- 
est country  in  the  world ! 

Another  fine  view  of  Imatra  can  be  had  from 
the  bridge,  looking  down.  Several  suicides 
have  occurred  there;  one  occurred  recently, — 
that  of  a  student.  I  asked  what  had  caused 
these  people  to  take  their  own  lives,  and  I  was 
told  that  they  were  people  who  had  become 
despondent  because  of  troubles, — troubles  that 
perhaps  had  been  brought  on  because  some  of 
their  relations  had  been  thrown  into  prison  by 
Eussian  orders,  probably  for  refusing  to  break 
the  laws  of  their  land. 

There  are  magnificent  falls  four  miles  from 
Imatra,  — ' '  Vallinkoski, "  —  "  Koski ' '  meaning 


FINLAND  71 

rapids.  They,  too,  are  owned  l)y  the  State, 
and  the  land  ahout  them  is  kept  as  a  National 
Park. 

Afterward  there  was  for  me  a  little  railway 
journey,  and  then  a  trip  on  a  neat  little 
steamer  upon  which  a  moonlight  night  was  to 
be  passed,  and  then  I  reached  Nyslott,  one  of 
the  nicest  towns  in  Finland. 

My  first  visit  in  Nyslott  was  to  a  romantic 
old  castle,  which  Knight  Erik  Tott  had  caused 
to  be  built  as  a  shield  against  Russia,  and  to 
'* overawe"  the  conquered  Finns,  who  had  not 
then  become  accustomed  to  their  masters,  the 
Swedes.  Belonging  to  that  unfortunate  class 
of  people  who  have  been  overcome  in  war,  it 
was  not  likely  that  I  would  have  any  sympathy 
with  Knight  Erik's  desire. 

Plave  you  ever  noted  the  effect  of  subjection 
upon  the  character  of  a  conquered  people? 
Little  by  little  they  become  subdued,  and  then 
they  are  in  danger  of  losing  their  manliness, 
unless  something  happens  to  arouse  them. 
Philosophers  have  observed  that  subject  peo- 
ples may  become  in  time  accustomed  to  severe 
taxation  imposed  upon  them  by  their  conquer- 
ors, and  that  they  sometimes  even  grow  fond 
of  those  who  degrade  them.  Conquered  peo- 
ples nearly  always  become  slow  in  action  and 
perception.     The   Finns,   however,   when   con- 


72  FINLAND 

quered  by  Eussia,  maintained  their  usual  char- 
acteristics;  and  perhaps  the  same  may  be  said 
of  the  people  of  South  Africa,  where  the  con- 
quered peoples  are  given  the  right  of  making 
laws  to  suit  their  economic  conditions. 

But  Knight  Erik's  castle  is  certainly  the 
most  romantic  place  in  Finland,  and  it  was  de- 
lightful to  step  into  a  little  boat,  under  a  cloud- 
less sky,  and  be  rowed  across, — some  two  hun- 
dred feet, — into  the  12th  century.  After  a 
pleasant  hour  at  the  castle,  which  is  cared  for 
by  the  State,  I  returned,  and  for  five  cents  was 
drawn  in  a  drosky  up  to  a  nice  little  pension 
kept  by  two  ladies  who  could  speak  English. 

Nyslott  was  one  of  the  pleasant  spots  of  my 
tour  in  Finland.  It  is  situated,  Venice-like, 
on  water,  with  beautiful  views  everywhere,  and 
it  is  famous  for  its  bathing  facilities.  These 
Finns  are  certainly  as  fond  of  water  as  any 
people  in  the  world.  One  day  we  crossed  the 
river  in  a  little  rowboat  to  a  dear  little  vege- 
table garden;  when  we  came  back  one  of  the 
ladies  stood  up  in  the  boat  all  the  way  and  kept 
her  equilibrium  perfectly.  Indeed,  it  is  not 
unusual  to  see  men  standing  erect,  arms  folded, 
in  the  little  boats  that  come  walloping  up  to 
the  steamers.  Everybody  swims  in  Finland, 
and  the  little  children  begin  their  lessons  when 
they  are  very  young. 


\:a...  > 


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WOODLAND  SCENERY— PUNKAHARJU 
Facing  page  73 


FINLAND  73 

Nyslott,  like  every  other  town  in  Finland,  has 
a  museum.  This  one  was  commenced  by  a 
country  doctor  who  gave  his  collection  to  the 
town.  I  was  particularly  interested  in  a  large 
w^hite  owl  and  some  ice-birds,  such  as  come 
down  every  spring  and  sit  on  the  edge  of  the 
ice.  These  museums  start  in  medium-sized 
rooms,  and  little  by  little  the  collections  in- 
crease until  large  buildings  are  required  for 
them. 

Next  to  Imatra  perhaps  Punkaharju  is  the 
spot  in  Finland  most  famous  for  its  beauty. 
It,  too,  belongs  to  the  State,  and  there  is  a 
large  area  of  country  with  it. 

Punkaharju  is  a  ridge  of  land  about  four 
miles  in  length,  two  hours  ride  by  steamer  from 
Nyslott.  These  narrow  ridges  of  Finland  are 
poetically  beautiful.  Up  their  banks  grow  tall 
columns  of  stately  pines;  the  air  at  the  top  is 
gloriously  invigorating,  and  it  goes  without 
sajdng  that  the  views  of  the  water  from  them 
are  charming. 

Fortunately  for  the  traveler,  there  are  nice 
little  hotels  everywhere  throughout  Finland. 

My  route  was  a  succession  of  delightful  trips 
by  boat,  past  pretty  farms  and  villas,  for  the 
world  of  Finland  lives  in  the  country  during 
the  summer  months,  and  consequently  the  towns 
have  an  exceedingly  lonesome  aspect.    As  the 


74  FINLAND 

captains  of  the  boats  as  a  general  rule  speak 
English,  I  enjoyed  frequent  talks  with  them. 

''Do  you  see  that  line  over  yonder  on  the 
rocks?"  said  the  captain  of  the  Heindvesi, 
bound  for  Kuopio.  "That  is  called  the  False 
Oath  Line.  The  water  was  as  high  as  that  the 
year  Nicholas  II  broke  his  oath.  He  promised 
to  keep  the  Finnish  constitution."  The  cap- 
tain's eyes  were  agleam  with  patriotism,  and 
he  laughed  gleefully,  as  pointing  again  to  the 
offending  sign,  he  cried:  "And  in  years  to 
come  the  little  children  will  point  to  the  False 
Oath  Line  and  say,  'See  the  False  Oath  Line, 
Nicholas  II  broke  his  word  that  year. '  Russia 
is  trying  to  govern  all  the  nationalities  with  the 
same  laws,"  continued  the  captain;  "and  she 
can't  do  it.  But  only  a  revolution  will  help 
Finland.  In  the  Japanese  war  the  Russian 
prisoners  were  made  to  learn  to  write;  there 
is  scarcely  a  person  in  Finland  who  cannot  read 
and  write,  except  very  old  people." 

The  Finlanders  think  a  great  deal  of  what 
posterity  will  think.  A  Swedish-Finn  lady  told 
me  about  an  aged  gentleman,  a  lawyer,  eighty 
years  old,  who  was  carried  off  to  prison  by 
Russian  authorities  because  he  would  not  break 
the  laws  of  Finland.  He  was  ill  at  the  time, 
and  the  police  came  to  his  house  at  six  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  and  against  the  wishes  of  the 


FINLAND  75 

doctor  took  him  to  prison.  She  said :  ' '  It  was 
better  that  he  should  go  to  prison  than  break 
the  laws  of  Finland,  and  it  was  better  for  his- 
tory, too,  for  the  little  children  will  read  that 
their  ancestors  were  good  and  brave." 

At  about  eight  in  the  morning  Kuopio,  the 
most  prettily  situated  little  city  in  Finland, 
came  in  view. 

There  was  an  agreeable  surprise  for  me 
in  Kuopio:  soon  after  my  arrival  I  went  auto- 
mobiling  to  the  delightful  home  of  a  Finnish 
family  to  enjoy  the  atmosphere  that  I  appre- 
ciate most.  Soon  after  I  had  arrived  I  saw  in 
the  drawing-room  a  large  painting  of  Finnish 
scenery.  About  the  room,  on  pedestals,  were 
busts  of  the  three  men  who  led  the  national 
awakening  movement, — Runeberg,  author  of 
''Our  Land";  Snellman,  Finland's  philoso- 
pher, who  wrote  "The  Science  of  the  State," 
and  Lonnrot,  who  collected  the  folk-runes  of 
Finland  and  compiled  the  "Kalevala."  On 
the  table  was  a  collection  of  geological  stones 
which  I  knew  would  some  day  find  their  way 
to  the  Museum. 

In  the  Library,  with  its  complete  collection 
of  Finnish  books,  was  a  bust  of  the  greatest 
Finnish  historian,  Yrjo  Koskinen,  who  was 
also  a  great  statesman,  the  author  of  the 
''Leading  Ideals  of  the  History  of  Mankind." 


76  FINLAND 

He  had  a  Swedish  name  which  he  translated 
into  Finnish,  meaning  rapids-man, — Koskinen. 
Thousands  of  Finns  are  now  taking  their  Fin- 
nish names  back  again,  out  of  pure  patriotism, 
or, — when  their  original  Finnish  family  name 
has  been  forgotten, — adopting  new  ones. 

Here  is  one  of  the  few  instances  in  history  of 
a  conquered  people  who  after  years  of  subordi- 
nation have  conquered  their  conquerors. 

An  aggregate  of  circumstances  made  this 
possible.  In  the  first  place,  their  land  was  too 
poor  to  draw  to  it  covetous  eyes;  that  which 
passed  into  the  hands  of  Russians  and  Swedes 
the  Finns  have  societies  for  buying  back  again. 

''When  it  comes  to  who  owns  Finland."  said 
a  Finnman  to  me,  "we  know  it  is  the  Finns." 

In  the  second  place,  the  Swedes  have  no  de- 
sire to  assimilate  the  Finns,  and  never  dreamed 
of  the  awakening  that  w^as  to  take  place, — an 
awakening  largely  led  by  Swedish  Finns.  The 
Finns  have  the  majority;  and  the  wresting  of 
the  country  by  Russia  from  Sweden  in  1809 
and  the  fact  that  Russia  during  many  years  was 
busy  with  other  matters  gave  them  the  oppor- 
tunity to  develop. 

But  when  it  comes  to  the  question  of  permit- 
ting Russia  to  denationalize  Finland,  Swede 
and  Finn  are  both  against  her. 

There  is  a  chain  of  reasons  reflected,  for  be- 


FINLAND  77 

lieving  that  Finland  may  be  saved  from  absorp- 
tion by  Russia.  First  and  foremost,  the  Fin- 
landers  are  thoroughly  awake  and  their  sense 
of  injustice  is  complete ;  if  Russia  desires  peace, 
she  must  take  no  liberties  with  Finnish  rights, 
— the  rights  of  man.  Secondly,  the  Finland- 
ers  have  developed  a  fine  economic  acumen; 
they  stand  for  Finnish  things  and  thoughts; 
they  are  original  and  initiative.  Thirdly,  they 
possess  the  invaluable  traits  of  pugnacity,  dog- 
gedness,  determination.  Fourthly,  they  love 
their  land.  Fifthly,  they  understand  and  ap- 
preciate,— as  no  other  body  of  people  appre- 
ciate and  understand, — the  art  of  organisation. 

And  here  let  me  mention  a  few  of  the  large 
number  of  organisations  in  Finland  that  are 
doing  saving  work.  The  Finnish  Literary  So- 
ciety, which  was  perhaps  the  prime  mover  in 
the  awakening  movement,  and  which  has  fine 
headquarters,  is  devoted  largely  to  editing  Fin- 
nish works  and  encouraging  their  production. 
Many  societies  owe  their  existence  to  this  or- 
ganisation, from  which  they  retire  when  they 
are  able  to  stand  alone. 

Then  there  are  the  Swedish  Literary  Soci- 
ety; the  Geographical  Society,  founded  for  the 
purpose  of  elucidating  the  geography  of  Fin- 
land, and  the  Society  of  ("Ants")  Antiquities 
which,  being  interested  in  objects  of  past  days, 


78  FINLAND 

has  awakened  the  State  into  caring  for  the  an- 
tiquities of  Finland, — its  ancient  buildings,  cas- 
tles, landmarks.  Says  "Finland  in  the  19th 
Century":  "They  published  an  edition  of  2000 
copies,  briefly  touching  upon  archaeology  in 
its  different  aspects.  .  .  .  The  Society  sends 
out  young  scholars  and  antiquaries  into  every 
country  and  parish  ...  to  describe  and  draw 
maps  of,  or  sketch,  ancient  monuments,  earth- 
works, or  other  immovable  remains,  to  amass 
relics  and  take  down  oral  traditions  ...  on 
colonization  and  other  subjects.  .  .  .  The  So- 
ciety has  fitted  out  five  different  expeditions 
which  have  described,  drawn,  sketched,  and 
photographed  every  available  object  of  antiq- 
uity in  the  churches  and  country  houses  of  the 
said  districts."  That  is,  the  districts  assigned 
them  for  study.  They  also  publish  a  jour- 
nal. 

The  Finnish  Society  of  Science  encourages 
and  publishes  scientific  works.  The  object  of 
this  society  is  to  study  climatology,  ethnogra- 
phy, meteorology,  zoology,  botany,  and  similar 
subjects,  and  to  gather  statistics.  It  gives 
traveling  scholarships  for  research. 

The  Finnish  Ugrian  Society  studies  the  lan- 
guage, ethnology,  and  history  of  the  Finnish 
Ugrian  peoples,  and  sends  out  students  to  study 
the    tribes    wherever    they    are    to    be    found. 


FINLAND  79 

There  is  also  the  Society  for  the  Study  of  Fin- 
nish Fauna  and  Flora,  and  there  is  the  For- 
estry Association. 

Indeed,  there  are  a  great  many  of  these  socie- 
ties, but  it  is  worth  while  to  say  that  some  of 
them  have  received  very  considerable  gifts  and 
legacies  for  the  furtherance  of  their  work ;  and 
these  gifts  and  legacies,  with  the  sale  of  their 
books, — and  Finlanders  do  not  turn  their  backs 
on  their  own  literature,  their  art,  or  anything 
else  deserving  of  them,  as  Southern  people  do, 
— enable  them  to  give  scholarships  and  prizes 
and  to  send  out  students  to  other  lands  to  study 
foreign  methods  of  doing  things.  They  do  not 
stop  at  one  land;  they  want  to  know  what  all 
lands  are  doing.  Even  the  State  gives  schol- 
arships. 

Many  of  the  Societies  of  Finland  have  been 
started  by  young  men  and  women,  who  issue  a 
call  to  join  them  to  all  persons  interested  in 
the  advancement  of  the  Fatherland,  and  partic- 
ularly in  the  especial  work  that  they  desire  to 
propagate.  And  the  call  is  answered  immedi- 
ately; both  peasant  and  professional  join  at 
once. 

The  object  of  the  Home  Eesearch  Society  is 
to  encourage  every  Finn  to  study  his  country, 
particularly  the  part  in  which  he  lives,  to  study 
everything  about  it,  be  it  bird,  flower,  stone, 


80  FINLAND 

poetry,  history,  orography,  hydrography,  me- 
teorology, or  archaeology. 

This  association  founded  the  Historical  Mu- 
seum at  Abo. 

The  peasants  are  as  intensely  interested  in 
their  country  as  are  persons  of  higher  degree ; 
indeed,  some  of  the  peasants  who  go  barefoot 
at  their  work  are  secretaries  of  societies  of  one 
kind  or  another. 

The  Martha  Society  has  a  bureau  in  the  cap- 
ital city,  where  eggs,  embroidery,  beautiful 
rugs,  dolls,  woven  material,  lace,  and  other 
things  are  sold.  There  are  166  branches  of 
this  Society  and  more  than  11,000  members. 
Meetings  are  held  twice  a  month  or  weekly, 
when  lectures  are  given  on  hygiene,  history, 
geography,  house-keeping,  eugenics,  et  cetera, 
and  discussions  take  j)lace  on  the  social  and  po- 
litical condition  of  the  country.  Snow  storms 
will  not  keep  the  women  from  these  meetings, 
they  are  so  intensely  interested,  and  they  come 
from  many  kilometres  around,  on  snow-shoes, 
in  boats, — in  sunshine  or  in  rain.  ''It  is  sur- 
prising how  soon  the  peasant  women  learn  to 
take  part  in  the  discussions.  Some  of  them 
become  secretaries  and  presidents  of  branch 
societies,"  said  one  of  the  members  to  me. 
This  association  prepares  and  sends  forth 
teachers  to  give  instruction  in  cooking,  garden- 


FINLAND  81 

ing,  and  ponltrying,  and  in  neatness  and  order- 
liness. 

The  Young  People's  Society  has  central  halls 
all  over  the  Fatherland  for  recreation,  gym- 
nasia, and  lectures  to  further  the  temperance 
cause.  Land  is  given  for  these  buildings,  and 
the  people  give  the  work. 

''Pellervo,"  economical  in  its  desire  and  co- 
operative, has  founded  a  college;  it  also  issues 
a  paper  which  goes  into  the  homes  of  all  classes 
of  people.  Its  purpose  is  to  disseminate  help- 
ful ideas  and  to  build  up  needed  business. 

It  gathers  statistics  and  sends  trained  teach- 
ers out  to  inform  the  people  and  to  encour- 
age them.  The  Diet  now  aids  in  the  work,  as 
it  does  in  the  work  of  many  organisations  found 
to  be  valuable.  "But  the  amount  expended 
is  small,"— to  quote  Mr.  Young  in  his  "Fin- 
land"— "as  compared  to  the  far-reaching  re- 
sults of  a  movement  affecting  the  life  of  a 
whole  nation.  .  .  .  The  spirit  in  which  the 
work  is  undertaken  and  the  loyal  co-operation 
of  all  who  are  interested  in  the  fate  of  the  land 
have  made  the  results  altogether  out  of  propor- 
tion to  the  amount  expended.  Within  ten 
years  of  the  foundation  of  'Pellervo'  there  was 
in  existence  1816  different  businesses,  354  dai- 
ries, 384  banks,  506  retail  shops,  and  568  other 
forms  of  activity." 


82  FINLAND 

I  would  like  to  draw  attention  to  the  differ- 
ence between  the  economic  acumen  of  the  men 
of  Finland  and  that  of  the  men  of  the  Southern 
States  of  the  American  Union.  Instead  of 
draining  the  community  of  money  with  which 
to  erect  a  building  away  from  the  South, — for 
the  purpose  of  inviting  alien  capital  to  come 
down  and  drive  our  own  people  to  the  wall,  as 
alien  capital  always  does,  on  the  principle  that 
big  fish  drive  out  little  fish, — ^these  Finlanders 
encourage  and  help  their  own  people  to  build 
up  useful  industries  and  become  capitalists 
themselves. 

I  was  given  the  pleasure  of  visiting  one  of 
these  co-operative  dairies  at  Kuopio,  which 
had  a  dairy  school  connected  with  it,  and  a  de- 
lightful little  lecture-room. 

Dairying  comes  second  among  the  industries 
of  Finland.  The  methods  of  the  Finlanders 
in  this  branch  of  work  are  very  excellent,  and 
they  have  excited  the  interest  of  the  Danes  and 
Swedes,  who  are  also  great  butter-makers. 
The  students  must  have  worked  for  a  year  in 
a  butter  factory  before  they  can  enter  a  school 
of  dairying,  where  they  must  work  and  study 
three  years  and  nine  months  altogether  before 
they  can  take  charge  of  a  butter  factory.  A 
woman  was  at  the  head  of  this  dairy,  and  I  can 


FINLAND  83 

assure  you  it  was  very  fascinating  to  watch 
the  proceedings  in  the  making  of  butter. 

From  the  butter  factory  we  went  to  a  large 
spool  factory,  and  I  held  in  my  hand  a  bunch 
of  spools  hot  from  the  machine. 


CHAPTER  VI 

KUOPIO  AND  KAJANA 

Kuopio  —  Snellman  Square  —  Minna  Canth  Street  —  Island 
Home  Life — "  Kumjusoari  " — Kajana  —  Fishing  Grounds 
—  Tar-boats  —  John  Messenius  —  Lonnrot's  Home. 

Kuopio  lias  a  square  named  after  Snellman, 
the  philosopher  and  patriot,  and  there  is  also 
a  bronze  bust  of  him  there.  He  was  the  rector 
of  a  school  and  the  editor  of  a  Finnish  news- 
paper. 

There  is  an  interesting  little  street  in  Kuopio 
named  Minna  Canth  Street.  Minna  Canth  was 
a  woman  who  ran  a  little  draper's  shop  for  the 
support  of  herself  and  her  children,  and  she 
was  also  a  dramatist  and  novelist  of  consider- 
able ability.  Her  plays  have  been  produced 
at  the  Finnish  theater  in  Helsingfors.  In  the 
pretty  park  through  which  we  drove  was 
pointed  out  to  me  the  rustic  stump  of  a  tree, — 
with  part  of  the  bark  left  for  a  back — upon 
which  Minna  Canth  loved  to  rest. 

From  Puijo  Hill  one  sees  one  of  the  most 
glorious  views  in  Finland, — woodland  and  lake 
and  sky  and  town  charmingly  combined.    Look- 

84 


o 

X 
in 

o 

K 

< 


FINLAND  85 

ing  earthward  near-by  my  eye  was  caught  by 
a  little  farm,  as  neat  as  a  pin,  with  a  little  red 
house  attached.  Tt  was  a  state  farm,  I  was 
told,  and  rented  out. 

Kuopio  introduced  me  to  the  Island  home 
life  of  Finland, — romantic,  fascinating,  hospit- 
able. I  would  like  to  linger  here  and  dream 
awhile  at  fair  "Kumjusoari"  but  I  cannot 
now. 

I  must  tell  you  that  in  Kuopio  I  received 
another  of  those  penetrating  "I  want  to 
know?"  gazes,  which  Finlanders  sometimes 
surprise  one  with.  It  came  from  the  eyes  of 
a  fair-haired  young  lady. 

'*Is  Mrs.  Beecher  Stowe's  book  true?"  she 
asked.     "They  think  it  is  true   here." 

Again  that  contemptible  book! 

But  Kajana  is  calling,  Kajana  in  the  farther 
North,  and  bird  and  tree  and  flower  are  sweeter 
far  than  the  venomous  fables  concerning  the 
Southern  people  that  fill  the  libraries  of  Eu- 
rope. 

Kajana  is  best  known  as  a  fishing-place,  as 
there  are  good  fishing  grounds  there  and  an 
abundance  of  trout,  grayling,  pike,  and  sal- 
mon. It  is  a  lonesome  little  town,  situated  on 
a  river,  within  hearing  of  two  beautiful  water- 
falls. Indeed  we  are  in  the  Paradise  of  Rap- 
ids now,  and  in  a  day  or  two  I  am  to  enjoy  the 


86  FINLAND 

most  delightful  sport  in  Finland, — shooting 
the  rapids. 

Kajana  gives  you  a  feeling  of  being  far  away 
from  civilisation, — a  feeling  that  is  rather 
pleasant.  It  is  a  land  of  tar,  the  trees  about 
being  rich  in  rosin.  I  did  not  see  the  tar  kilns, 
but  I  did  see  tar  boats  and  tar  barrels  a-plenty. 

All  this  Northern  country  is  delightful  be- 
cause of  the  timber  and  tar.  The  men  go  into 
the  forests  to  hew  the  trees  when  the  snow  is 
on  the  ground  that  they  may  the  easier  "drag" 
the  logs  to  the  river,  where  in  due  time  they 
are  floated  down,  either  singly  or  in  rafts,  to 
their  destination.  Sometimes  the  caretakers 
build  their  abodes  upon  the  rafts,  which  are 
often  of  considerable  size,  and  here  they  stay 
with  their  families  and  their  domestic  animals. 

Castles  and  battlefields  are  usually  associ- 
ated together  in  one's  mind.  Here  in  North 
Finland  there  are  the  ruins  of  an  old  castle 
in  which  John  Messenius,  a  prisoner  for  twenty 
years,  utilised  his  time  by  writing  a  history  of 
his  country,  showing  the  truth  of  Walt  Whit- 
man's words:  "And  I  will  prove  that  whatever 
happens  to  anyone,  it  can  be  turned  to  beautiful 
results." 

The  weather  was  not  delightful  during  my 
stay  in  Kajana,  except  on  the  afternoon  of  my 
arrival,  and  I  failed  to  make  good  my  antici- 


FINLAND  87 

pation  of  visiting  a  fine  butter  factory.  I 
think  the  pleasantest  moment  of  my  stay  in 
Kajana  was  when  the  kindly  author  of  my 
Finnish  phrase  book,  a  citizen  of  Kajana,  led 
me  into  the  sunlit  backyard  of  the  home  in 
which  once  lived  Elias  Lonnrot,  the  weaver  of 
the  Kalevala.  In  this  yard  were  trees  and 
green  grass.  Lonnrot  was  the  son  of  a 
tailor,  whom  somebody  had  educated  for  a  doc- 
tor. Dressed  in  his  peasant's  garb,  he  was  ac- 
customed to  wander  in  and  out  of  the  peas- 
ants' homes,  listening  to  and  collecting  their 
rune-songs.  He  was  one  of  the  founders  of 
the  Finnish  Literary  Society,  which  has  ac- 
complished a  great  deal,  and  which  published 
his  work.  For  some  time  this  Society  paid  his 
expenses  so  that  he  could  go  throughout  the 
country  and  collect  the  Finnish  folk-songs. 

And  right  here  in  the  backyard  of  this  man 
of  noble  aspirations  I  should  like  to  read  to 
you  some  lines  from  the  ''Kalevala," — "Land 
of  Heroes," — Finland's  national  epic. 


CHAPTER  VII 

IN  THE  FAR  NORTH 

The  Rapids  —  Vaala  —  Fishermen  —  Tar-bouts  —  Shooting  tlie 
Rapids  —  Wayside  Scenes  —  Uleaborg  —  Finland  Rising 
out  of  the  Sea  —  Language  Difficulties  —  The  World's  first 
Woman  Station  Master  —  Rovaniemi  —  In  the  Circle  of 
the  North  Pole  —  A  Lapland  Lawyer  —  Lapp  Schools  — 
Reindeer —  Hunting  and  Fishing  —  Crown  Parks  —  Fin- 
nish Loyalty  —  Finnish  Peasants  —  Tornea  —  Passport 
Again  —  A  Swedish  School  Garden. 

Authors  that  write  about  Finland  dearlj^  love 
to  reach  the  point  when  they  can  talk  about  the 
rapids. 

The  little  steamer  Una  left  Kajana  early  one 
dank,  raw  morning  and  shortly  afterward  it  en- 
tered the  Ulea  Lake,  largest  in  Northern  Fin- 
land. This  body  of  water  has  a  reputation  be- 
cause of  its  squalls,  and  never  did  I  get  such  a 
banging  about  as  I  got  there  for  a  while,  except 
once  when  I  crossed  the  Gulf  Stream  at  right 
angles  one  January  in  a  small  tonnage  boat  run- 
ning between  Bermuda  and  New  York.  But 
on  the  whole  it  was  not  a  bad  passage,  and  the 
sun  was  beaming  brightly  when  the  steamer 
drew  up  at  about  one  o'clock  before  the  little 

88 


H 

s 

o 

H 
W 

H 

W 

Q 


-   O 


o 

W 

H 


FINLAND  89 

collection  of  red  houses  that  constitute  the  vil- 
lage of  Vaala. 

Vaala  is  a  fishing  place,  and  here  and  there  a 
lone  fisherman  could  be  seen  dreaming  dreams 
at  the  end  of  his  line.  It  is  also  the  starting- 
point  of  the  tarboats.  In  the  open  season  the 
barrels  of  tar  are  brought  to  Vaala  to  be  car- 
ried down  the  rushing  rapids  to  the  coast  in  the 
long  narrow  boats  made  for  the  purpose — 
boats  in  which  only  licensed  pilots  are  allowed. 

There  is  only  one  advisable  way  of  getting  to 
the  coast  from  here,  and  that  includes  shooting 
the  rapids.  The  Tourist  Society,  the  boats  of 
which  run  daily  during  the  season,  knows  just 
how  these  boats  should  be  made,  and  their 
boats,  though  plain,  are  absolutely  comfortable. 

There  are  persons  who  say,  ''Only  well  peo- 
ple should  shoot  the  rapids ;  people  with  nerves, 
never."  To  which  others  make  reply, 
''Pshaw!"  It  was  the  "Pshaw!"  family's  ad- 
vice I  took;  for  surely  a  little  shaking  up  now 
and  then  is  a  desirable  medicine,  else  life  might 
become  even  as  a  hospital  bed. 

Pshaw!  I  wouldn't  miss  it.  And  didn't 
Alexander  I,  Tsar  of  all  the  Russias,  founder 
of  Finland,  rush  down  these  very  rapids  ?  The 
story  is  told  that  midway  down  a  storm  arose. 
The  men  looked  concerned.  "Are  you  fright- 
ened T'  asked  the  Tsar. — "But  for  your  Maj- 


90  FINLAND 

esty,"  came  the  reply. — ''Then  forget  that  he 
is  with  you.     In  danger  all  men  are  equal." 

I  am  sure  it  was  with  a  delightful  little  thrill 
that  I  stepped  into  the  tourist  boat,  wrapped 
in  a  tarpaulin  coat,  with  a  snug  rug  for  warmth, 
and  with  the  music  of  the  rapids  in  my  ears. 

I  am  going  to  let  Mr.  Ernest  Young,  who  has 
written  so  interestingly  of  Finland,  tell  the 
story  of  the  rapids : 

"The  current  seizes  the  boat  and  down  it 
shoots  into  the  whirling  waters  within  almost 
touching  distance  of  the  threatening  blocks  of 
granite.  Every  moment  it  seems  as  though 
the  fragile  craft  would  be  dashed  to  pieces,  but 
the  pilot  calculates  each  turn  of  the  oar  with 
perfect  ease  and  security,  and  after  a  few 
moments  of  intense  excitement  smooth  water  is 
again  reached  and  rowing  is  once  more  neces- 
sary. Another  rapid  is  followed  by  another 
stretch  of  smooth  water,  and  these  experiences 
are  repeated  again  and  again  till  the  last  rapids, 
the  Pyhakoski  or  Sacred  Eapids,  are  reached. 
These  are  twelve  miles  in  length  and  the  man 
who  can  go  through  them  without  a  thrill  must 
be  about  as  unemotional  as  a  dead  toad.  The 
journey  takes  only  twenty  minutes,  but  there  is 
the  possibility  of  death  for  every  minute,  and 
though  accidents  are  of  such  rare  occurrence 
that  the  chance  of  being  drowned  may  be  al- 


FINLAND  91 

most  neglected,  still  the  fact  remains  that  any 
indecision  or  miscalculation  on  the  part  of  the 
steersman  would  mean  the  certain  loss  of  the 
boat  and  of  everyone  on  board.  You  have  only 
to  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  pilot 's  face  to  see  that 
he  will  take  no  risks,  and  that  he  feels  to  the 
full  the  weight  of  his  responsibilities.  The 
velocity  increases  from  minute  to  minute;  the 
surface  of  the  stream  has  a  visible  slope,  it  is  as 
though  a  part  of  the  Atlantic  were  rolling  down 
an  incline ;  logs  of  wood  are  thrust  aside  as  they 
crash  into  the  slender  craft ;  the  spray  is  dashed 
into  your  face ;  the  wind  blows  the  hair  of  the 
ladies  and  tries  to  dislodge  the  hats  of  the  men ; 
and  then,  just  as  you  are  about  getting  used  to 
the  whirling  perilous  pleasure  of  it  all,  the  river 
makes  a  sudden  bend,  a  rock  impedes  the  pas- 
sage, a  whirlpool  waits  for  you  on  the  other  side 
of  the  rock,  and  for  once  you  can  scarcely  resist 
the  fear  that  soon  all  will  be  unpleasantly  over. 
To  avoid  the  barrier  amidst  this  howling  tor- 
rent of  water  and  at  this  speed  seems  well-nigh 
impossible.  The  boatman  leans  upon  his  oar, 
and  the  boat  makes  straight  for  the  cliffs  as 
though  purposely  to  dash  itself  to  fragments. 
Almost  as  the  nose  of  the  boat  touches  the  bank, 
the  whole  weight  of  the  pilot  is  thrown  on  the 
pole  and  the  craft  sweeps  lightly  as  a  cork  out 
into  the  mass  of  seething,  boiling  foam  that 


92  FINLAND 

flings  itself  everlastingly  from  side  to  side  in  a 
mad  and  ceaseless  passion  of  hate." 

Mr.  George  Kenwick,  who  also  writes  of  Fin- 
land, has  this  to  say: 

i 

"For  a  short  space  the  raging  waters  seem  to 
take  breath.  The  boat  glides  easily  along, 
sweeps  gracefully  round  a  corner,  and  then 
faces  the  wild  torrent  again.  Just  as  one  is  be- 
ginning to  compliment  oneself  on  having  excel- 
lent nerves  comes  an  experience  that  would 
make  one  shiver  with  fear  if  there  were  only 
time,  but  it  is  all  over  before  one  can  quite 
realise  what  has  taken  place.  On  we  dash  at 
the  rate  of  about  half  a  mile  a  minute,  straight 
for  a  sheer  wall  of  rock  which  stands  out  and 
narrows  the  torrent's  passage,  so  that  the 
waters  are  churned  into  a  raging  whirlpool. 
We  rush  as  though  to  destruction  on  the  rocks ; 
suddenly  the  pilot  throws  his  whole  strength 
on  the  rudder,  and  when  we  are  about  a  quarter 
of  a  length  from  the  rock  the  boat  swings  with 
terrific  suddenness  round  the  rock,  seems  to  fly 
over  the  hissing  whirlpool,  and  reaches  the 
waves  that  dance  for  joy  beyond  its  dangers. 
For  some  seconds  one's  heart  seems  to  stand 
still ;  one  looks  round  to  see  if  one  is  really  safe, 
and  there  is  to  be  seen  once  more,  as  the  boat 
hurries  along,  beautiful  banks  of  trees  and  a 


FINLAND  93 

glorious  crowning  sun.  When  the  torrent  is 
over  and  we  can  talk  in  comfort  again  I  am  told 
some  of  the  horrors  of  that  part  of  the  descent. 
To  turn  too  soon  may  mean  to  be  sucked  down 
into  the  raging  depths,  for  it  is  only  by  darting 
over  at  the  utmost  possible  speed  that  the  whirl- 
pool's  power  is  overcome.  For  the  pilot  to  be 
a  second  too  late  in  throwing  every  ounce  of 
his  strength  on  the  steering-bar  would  mean 
being  dashed  to  pieces  on  the  rock — the  Palli, 
it  is  called — and  being  thrown  helpless  into  the 
waves.  Safety  hangs  on  the  decision  of  an 
instant. ' ' 

My  experience  was  less  exciting,  for  the 
water  was  lower ;  but  shooting  the  rapids,  I  can 
say,  is  a  delight,  is  thrilling,  is  poetrj^ 

And  the  pictures  that  you  pick  up  on  the  way ! 
Long  stretches  of  loneliness,  fields  of  hay,  two- 
roomed  huts,  curling  smoke,  a  hamlet,  women 
washing  clothes  by  the  waterside,  a  dog  bark- 
ing, forests,  cliffs,  as  the  boat  scampers  alter- 
nately down  the  muttering,  murmuring,  ob- 
streperous rapids  and  out  into  the  placid 
waters,  to  the  musical  voices  of  the  Finns.  The 
Finnish  language  is  full  of  vowels,  the  first 
word  of  every  syllable  is  emphasised,  and  their 
speech  is  veiy  pleasant. 

Midway,  away  from  civilisation,  there  is  a 


94  FINLAND 

stop  for  lunch — in  a  shed, — table,  tea,  coffee, 
cake,  biscuits, — and  soon  after  dusk  Muhos  is 
reached,  a  scattered  but  clean  little  place,  where 
the  programme  is  supper  and  sleep. 

The  next  morning,  being  up  betimes,  I  was 
the  first  of  the  travelers  to  reach  the  lonely  little 
wharf  where  lay  the  tiny  steamer  that  was  to 
carry  passengers  to  Uleaborg. 

Congratulating  myself  on  my  superior  activ- 
ity as  I  sat  toasting  my  toes  in  the  cabin,  my 
gaze  turned  toward  the  window.  My  attention 
was  attracted  to  two  of  the  tourists,  a  lady  and 
a  gentleman,  who,  with  umbrellas  waving  fran- 
tically and  faces  wretched  with  worry,  were 
making  Marconi  speed  down  the  hill  in  the  di- 
rection of  the  boat.  Then  I  noticed  that  the 
vessel  was  moving, — had  I  gotten  into  the 
wrong  boat?  Good  heavens!  I  searched  for 
my  phrase  book. 

''Meneeko  tdmd  laivaf  Uleaborg?  Me- 
neeko  tdmd  laiva  Uleaborg f"  (''Is  this  the  boat 
for  Uleaborg?"),  I  asked. 

"Eu,  eu,"  ("Yes,  yes"),  answered  the  only 
other  person  that  I  saw  on  board, — A  Finnish 
boy,  who  was  now  smiling  broadly,  and  his  eyes 
danced  mischievously  as  he  looked  first  at  the 
frantic  umbrellas  on  the  shore  and  then  at  my 
bewildered  countenance. 

"So  much  for  getting  up  early,"  I  grumbled 


FINLAND  95 

as  I  went  back  to  toasting  my  toes,  deciding 
that  the  little  steamer  was  taking  a  run  to  some 
near-by  town  and  would  bring  me  back  again — 
which  it  did. 

The  trip  to  Uleaborg,  on  the  Gulf  of  Bothnia, 
the  most  important  city  in  Northern  Finland, 
took  two  hours.  The  boat  landed  two  miles  out 
of  the  town.  Two  philanthropic  people  took  me 
with  them  in  a  drosky  and  put  me  down  at  the 
largest  hotel  in  the  city,  beautifully  situated, 
but  with  an  entrance  as  unhomelike  and  deso- 
late as  that  of  a  theater.  I  longed  to  shoulder 
an  axe  and  go  out  into  the  woods  to  look  for  firs 
and  other  green  decorations  with  which  to  beau- 
tify the  place. 

The  dining-room,  however,  afforded  a  pleas- 
ing contrast  to  the  entrance  of  the  building; 
and,  delightful  sound,  I  heard  an  Englishman's 
voice!  After  ''soppa" — soup; — I  gravitated 
toward  it,  and  had  a  talk  with  this  gentleman 
concerning  the  immense  province  of  Uleaborg. 
He  was  from  Brahested,  a  little  town  south  of 
this  place,  which  some  thirty  years  ago  was  the 
leading  ship-owning  port  in  the  Gulf  of  Bothnia. 
To-day  not  a  single  ship  is  owned  at  Brahested, 
as  the  increase  in  the  cost  of  labor  and  material 
have  destroyed  the  industry.  When  the  Cri- 
mean war  was  going  on  the  English  ships  en- 
tered Brahested  harbor,  burnt  four  ships  on  the 


96  FINLAND 

stocks  ready  for  launching,  together  with  the 
ship-building  yard,  timber  yard,  and  tar  maga- 
zine. One  English  ship  stranded,  and  it  was 
captured  by  the  Finns,  the  English  having  to 
take  to  their  boats. 

There  were  no  banks  in  those  days  except  a 
few  Russian  banks  in  the  chief  centers,  which 
were  too  unsafe  to  be  trusted,  so  the  people  liid 
their  money  in  the  walls  and  stone  foundations 
of  houses  and  in  old  magazines.  Within  ten 
years,  through  the  pulling  down  of  old  build- 
ings, many  thousands  of  pounds  in  English 
gold,  French  eagles,  American  money, — -the 
money  of  almost  all  countries, — have  been 
found.  One  large  copper  pot  which  is  known  to 
contain  several  thousand  pounds  is  still  unan- 
swered for ;  four  have  been  found. 

Finland  is  rising  more  rapidly  out  of  the  sea 
in  the  north  than  in  the  south.  Pilots  have  had 
to  reduce  the  draft  of  steamers  from  twenty- 
two  feet  five  years  ago  to  twenty  feet  at  the 
present  time.  A  little  way  south  of  here  is  a 
stretch  of  low-lying  land,  70  kilometres  in 
length,  composed  of  nothing  but  sand  and  white 
mud,  which  cannot  be  cultivated. 

Uleaborg  is  an  interesting  place.  It  has 
good  schools  and  good  book-stores,  as  all  Fin- 
nish towns  have;  and  it  has  a  museum,  of 
course,  an  old  church,  four  sawmills,  and  big 


FINLAND  97 

tannery  works.  Excellent  leather  goods  are 
made  in  Uleaborg  and  sent  out  to  Russia  and 
to  many  other  lands, — saddles,  purses,  bags, 
and  tiTinks.  It  is  a  noted  timber  and  tar  coun- 
try, and  fishing  is  a  great  occupation  there.  I 
enjoyed  a  little  drive  and  a  little  walk,  and  a 
pleasant  Uleaborg  lady  went  with  me  down  to 
see  the  salmon  pens  at  six  in  the  evening,  when 
the  nets  are  drawn.  It  was  not  a  large  catch 
that  evening,  but  there  was  pleasure  in  watch- 
ing the  fishers  manipulate  the  nets.  The  water, 
full  of  logs,  was  beautiful,  and  the  Merrikoski 
rapids  were  singing  a  merry  little  song. 

The  English  gentleman  had  four  times  tele- 
phoned up  to  Eovaniemi,  on  the  Arctic  Circle, 
to  know  if  there  was  an  English-speaking  per- 
son in  the  place.  No;  those  who  might  once 
have  spoken  English  had  forgotten ;  so  a  young 
lady  was  found  to  accompany  me  to  the  Arctic 
Circle. 

We  left  on  an  early  train  the  next  morning, 
and  nearly  all  day  we  had  the  comfortal)le  car 
to  ourselves.  Hitherto  I  had  traveled  all  the 
way  from  Helsingfors,  with  the  exception  of  a 
few  hours,  by  water.  Now  I  was  to  begin  my 
land  journeys. 

At  Kemi  we  changed  cars,  had  dinner,  and 
had  to  wait  quite  a  while. 

The  little  stations  were  spick  and  span,  and 


96  FINLAND 

before  reaching  Eovaniemi  my  attention  was 
called  to  the  first  woman  station  master  in  the 
world.  She  was  standing  on  the  steps,  as  neat 
as  the  little  station  of  which  she  was  master; 
with  the  grace  of  experience  she  touched  her 
blue  cap,  and  the  train  was  off. 

A  short  distance  from  Eovaniemi  may  be  seen 
Avasaksa  Hill,  a  favorite  place  from  which  to 
see  the  midnight  sun  in  June. 

Eovaniemi  stands  directly  on  the  Polar  Cir- 
cle, where  the  compass  points  obstinately  down. 
About  an  hour  before  we  got  there  I  began  to 
feel  a  trifle  ill  and  nervous;  and  it  never  oc- 
curred to  me  until  that  moment  that  perhaps 
the  latitude  was  too  much  for  me.  I  was  told 
that  this  probably  was  not  the  case,  though  the 
soil  of  this  section  contains  marl,  and  in  marl 
there  is  magnet. 

We  were  disappointed  in  not  finding  good  ac- 
commodation. It  was  the  first  time  such  a 
thing  had  happened  during  my  experience  in 
Finland.  After  refreshments  a  Finnish  boy 
took  us  for  a  drive,  part  of  which  we  enjoyed 
in  the  gloaming. 

"She  must  be  the  lady  I  have  been  reading 
about,"  he  said,  when  told  that  I  had  come  to 
write  about  Lapland. 

One  of  the  pleasures  that  I  had  looked  for- 
ward to  in  coming  to  Eovaniemi  was  to  climb 


FINLAND  99 

to  the  top  of  Ounasvaara  hill,  which  stands  at 
the  very  door  of  the  town.  From  this  hill  the 
midnight  sun  may  be  seen  in  June,  beginning 
about  the  middle  of  the  month.  I  never  got  to 
the  top  of  Ounasvaara  hill, — my  Finnish  Car- 
cassonne. 

The  following  morning,  early,  we  made  our 
way  to  a  little  churchyard,  where,  immediately 
on  the  line  a  slab  has  been  erected,  on  one  side 
of  which  are  the  words ; 

''Moses,  5th  book,  27th  chapter,  verse  17." 
On  the  other,  "1875,"  and  '' J.  H.  Juvelius." 

The  view  from  this  churchyard,  looking  out 
upon  the  river  Kemi,  is  very  beautiful.  The 
surveyor's  stone,  erected  in  1868,  is  a  trifle's 
distance  away.  Coming  back,  we  wandered 
awhile  in  a  neglected  little  cemetery,  and  I  no- 
ticed that  the  modest  forget-me-not,  lilac  bushes, 
raspberries,  and  currants,  all  grew  within  the 
circle  in  which  the  North  Pole  rears  its  invis- 
ible head. 

Rovaniemi  is  a  town  of  considerable  wealth. 
It  is  the  fifth  most  important  town  in  the  world 
as  a  center  of  the  fur  trade.  In  February 
some  eight  or  ten  thousand  people  gather  there, 
— Russians,  Swedes,  Germans,  Norwegians, 
and  Danes,  to  bargain  in  the  furs  of  the  bear, 
the  fox,  the  ermine,  and  other  animals,  and 
something  more  than  a  million  marks, — $200,- 


100  FINLAND 

000, — is  exclianged.  The  skin  of  a  certain  black 
fox  brings  $240.  At  tlie  last  market  about  ten 
thousand  ermine  skins  were  sold,  bringing  from 
$2.50  to  $3.50  a  skin.  Pearls,  too,  are  found  in 
these  northern  rivers,  and  they  are  considered 
particularly  desirable  by  the  Russians.  Rein- 
deer, are  also  bargained  for  and  gold  is  found 
in  Lapland,  consequently  Rovaniemi  is  a  town 
of  some  importance. 

On  the  train  coming  back  a  well-known  law- 
yer of  Enare,  Lapland,  came  in  to  see  us,  and 
he  proved  to  be  well  informed  concerning  this 
region.  But  I  could  enjoy  the  conversation 
only  through  an  interpreter.  He  was  a  man  of 
culture,  and  the  fact  that  he  owned  several  hun- 
dred reindeer  made  him  appear  a  somewhat 
romantic  person.  How  strange  it  seemed  to  be 
riding  in  a  train, — more  comfortable  far  than 
anything  ''wealthy  and  progressive"  America 
could  afford  its  citizens, — within  a  stone's  throw 
of  Lapland.  Stranger  far  was  it  to  learn  that 
there  are  very  few  Lapps  that  cannot  read 
and  write,  for  there  are  folk-schools  every- 
where in  Lapland;  if  there  are  thirty  children 
in  a  Lapp  village,  the  Lapps  build  a  folk-school, 
and  there  are  temporary  schools  for  persons 
living  far  out  in  the  country. 

Nearly  all  the  Lapps, — there  are  only  about 
1,000  in  all, — are  Lutheran  in  religion,  and  Fin- 


FINLAND  101 

nish  clergymen  preach  to  them  in  their  own 
language.  They  live  on  birds,  reindeer,  fish, 
and  bread — which  comes  from  Norway — only 
a  little  coming  from  Finland. 

Wealth  is  reckoned  by  the  number  of  rein- 
deer a  man  possesses.  He  who  owns  several 
hundred  is  accounted  rich;  he  who  has  2,000, 
very  rich.  One  Laplander  owned  4,000.  The 
enemy  of  the  reindeer  in  this  region  is  a  little 
animal  justly  reckoned  a  pest,  as  it  descends 
from  the  trees,  catches  the  reindeer  by  the  neck, 
and  puts  an  end  to  its  life.  The  reindeer  pas- 
tures in  the  forests  and  lives  upon  lichens; 
when  lichens  are  scarce  upon  the  ground,  spruce 
trees  are  felled  in  order  to  get  them.  The 
reindeer  frequently  harm  the  trees  by  sharpen- 
ing their  horns  against  them. 

One  travels  altogether  in  sleds  drawn  by  rein- 
deer in  the  winter,  which  is  a  beautiful  season, 
for  the  Lapland  moon  is  very  bright,  and  the 
glow  of  Northern  lights  is  exquisite  on  the  white 
snow.  As  compasses  refuse  to  work,  travelers 
learn  to  find  their  way  by  the  trees,  the  shapes 
of  which  are  effected  by  exposure  to  the  north. 

Not  only  is  there  fine  fishing,  in  this  northern 
country,  but  there  is  also  good  hunting,  as 
bears,  foxes,  and  wolves  are  plentiful. 

The  people  of  Finland  are  public-spirited, 
and  the  Lapland  lawyer  is  working  to  secure 


102  FINLAND 

Ounasvaara  for  the  State,  as  travelers  with  van- 
dal inclinations  might  seek  to  carry  away  its 
stone. 

Finland  has  very  beautiful  crown  parks. 

As  an  example  of  loyalty  let  me  tell  you  an 
incident  of  the  bad  days  of  1899.  In  the  Eus- 
sian  province  of  Archangel,  which  borders  the 
White  Sea,  live  some  peasants  of  the  peddler 
class,  being  usually  Russians,  with  a  little  Fin- 
nish blood  in  their  veins.  At  the  time  ''when 
Russia  was  so  bad,"  as  the  Finns  would  say, 
these  peddlers  came  nosing  into  Finland  in  a 
rather  suspicious  way.  They  told  the  peasants 
who  had  no  property  that  when  the  Swedes 
were  driven  out  the  Russians  would  come  in, 
and  that  the  Russians  would  give  them  land. 
They  painted  a  pretty  imaginary  picture  to 
dazzle  the  eyes  of  these  peasants  of  Finland 
who  own  no  riches. 

Now,  did  the  poor  peasants  of  Finland  ac- 
cept the  gold  brick?  No,  indeed;  to  the  con- 
trary, they  worked  to  have  these  enemies  of 
Finland  punished,  for  it  was  against  the  law 
for  foreigners  to  peddle  in  Finland.  They  saw 
that  some  of  the  funds  that  were  usually 
awarded  to  persons  who  destroyed  dangerous 
wild  animals  were  used  in  prosecuting  the  ped- 
dlers of  Archangel.  But  Saint  Petersburg  ob- 
jected, and  orders  came  to  the  effect  that  the 


FINLAND  103 

peddlers   of  Archangel   should  be   allowed   to 
peddle  in  Finland. 

Now,  these  poor  peasants  of  Finland  and 
others  did  not  say  to  one  another:  **0h,  what 
is  the  use  of  saying  anything!  It  won't  do  any 
good  I  It  would  just  be  stirring  up  strife,"  nor 
did  they  run  away  to  a  rabbit  hole.  But  they 
boycotted  the  peddlers  of  Archangel;  and  boy- 
cotted them  effectually,  by  starving  them  out. 
They  did  more:  they  and  more  cultured  Fin- 
landers  organised  and  distributed  literature  ex- 
plaining the  case. 

f 

We  were  going  to  Tornea,  the  same  that  sits 
at  the  head  of  the  Gulf  of  Bothnia  on  a  little 
island.  The  afternoon  was  pleasant,  and  soon 
after  we  arrived  at  Tornea  we  started  for  the 
rickety  little  bridge  that  leads  over  into  the 
neat  little  town  of  Haparanda,  which  is  in  Swe- 
den. 

At  the  bridge  passports  were  demanded.  I 
wondered  if  it  would  be  noticed  that  I  had  been 
into  Saint  Petersburg,  and  that  my  passport 
showed  no  evidence  of  having  been  presented  to 
the  police. 

After  refreshments  at  Haparanda 's  best 
hotel  we  visited  a  little  Swedish  school-garden, 
in  which  every  growing  plant  and  tree  had  its 
name  attached  to  it. 


104  FINLAND 

It  was  Sunday,  and  Tornea,  with  its  2,000 
inhabitants,  was  as  quiet  as  a  little  mouse. 
Tornea  is  the  starting-point  for  people  desiring 
to  visit  Aavasaksa,  forty  miles  away,  where,  in 
June,  the  midnight  sun  can  be  seen.  The 
Lapps  go  in  their  sleds  into  Tornea  in  Decem- 
ber for  the  purpose  of  holding  a  fair. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

EDUCATION 

Education  —  Red  Roses  and  Birchbark — "  Haapavesi,"  Fin- 
land's First  Garden  School  —  State  Encouragement  of 
Schools  —  Folk-Schools  —  Travel  —  Music  —  Finnish  Folk- 
Song  —  Finnish  Individuality  —  Vilppula  —  At  Dr.  Ly- 
beck's  Sanatorium  —  A  Tree  House  —  Supper  —  A  Finnish 
Chimney  —  Finlanders  not  ashamed  of  their  Skin. 

Our  next  day's  journey  was  long  and  tedious, 
but  it  was  golden  at  the  end  and  it  was  rosy  iii 
the  middle.  When  the  train  stopped  at  Ulea- 
borg  for  lunch  a  messenger  came  in  with  a 
bunch  of  rich  red  roses  and  a  pretty  birch-bark 
basket  full  of  currants, — a  gift  to  me  from  a 
stranger  who  wrote  that  she  had  seen  by  the 
papers  that  I  was  to  pass  through  Uleaborg 
that  day. 

After  several  more  hours,  and  then  a  twenty- 
two  mile  ride  in  a  Finnish  conveyance,  the  most 
uncomfortable  that  man  ever  made,  an  ideal 
little  village  came  in  sight;  and  then  we  saw  a 
wonderful  garden  with  a  pure  gold  border  on 
either  side  of  the  long  walk  that  led  to  a  model 
home.     This  is  "Haapavesi,"  Finland's  first 

105 


106  FINLAND 

garden-school,  started  twenty  years  ago.  What 
a  wealth  of  flowers  there  was,  and  of  every  im- 
aginable color !  Yet  in  one  night,  sometimes  in 
August,  the  frost  king  will  come  and  lay  it  all 
low. 

Cooking  is  a  part  of  the  curriculum  at  this 
garden-school,  and  little  children  of  six  years 
old,  both  boys  and  girls,  learn  to  cook,  for 
**They  must  leam  to  cook  what  they  grow," 
said  a  little  teacher,  as  we  stood  in  the  kitchen 
garden  admiring  the  purple  cabbages,  and  the 
largest  cucumbers  I  have  ever  seen.  And  there 
were  also  quantities  of  peas  and  beans  and 
potatoes  and  onions — and  berry-bushes  galore. 

The  teachers  as  well  as  the  pupils  go  bare- 
footed in  the  summer,  for  people  are  not 
ashamed  of  their  skin  in  Finland.  "We  like  so 
to  let  the  air  get  to  our  bodies ;  it  is  so  healthy," 
one  said — it  was  bathing  time  and  we  were 
down  at  the  lake.  ''It  is  so  foolish  to  be 
ashamed  of  your  body  when  God  made  it ! "  and 
she  expanded  her  arms  and  sped,  Diana-like, 
down  a  little  hill,  clothed  only  in  her  beautiful 
skin. 

There  are  three  garden-schools  in  Finland, 
from  which  teachers  are  sent  out  to  lecture  in 
various  jjarts  of  that  country.  There  are  two 
courses,  one  of  seven  months  and  the  other  of 
nine  months.     The  State  helps  toward  the  sup- 


O 
O 
X 
u 
m 

v; 
O 

w 

H 

< 

in 

w 

H 

U 
< 

o 

X 
H 
< 


FINLAND  107 

port  of  the  schools,  and  there  is  a  society  in 
Helsingfors  that  raises  money  to  send  young 
women  to  foreign  lands  to  learn  the  methods  of 
other  countries.  Well-to-do  people  also  give 
stipendiums  for  this  purpose.  When  I  was 
there  they  were  thinking  of  establishing  a  gar- 
den-school for  Lapland. 

Oh,  these  schools  of  Finland !  I  wish  I  could 
take  you  to  some  of  them  that  I  visited.  Espe- 
cially interesting  are  the  Folk  Schools, — Ele- 
mentary and  Higher, — corresponding  somewhat 
to  our  public  schools,  but  with  bathing,  cooking, 
manual  training,  needlework,  and  perhaps  other 
features  that  we  have  not.  The  pupils  drink 
from  little  fountains,  to  which  they  put  their 
lips,  and  teachers  see  to  it  that  each  child  has 
proper  nourishment.  Indeed,  they  are  very 
careful  as  to  hygiene.  On  the  walls  of  the 
rooms  and  corridors  are  generally  to  be  seen 
pictures  representing  some  scene  from  Finnish 
history,  and  each  school  has  a  little  Zoological 
Museum. 

There  are  also  schools  for  training  teachers, 
lyceums,  forestry  schools,  navigation  schools, 
agricultural  schools,  dairy  schools,  music 
schools,  and  art  schools.  The  State  gives  sti- 
pendiums, and  there  are  private  funds  also  for 
enabling  students  to  travel  and  study  other 
lands.     The  Finlanders  are  great  believers  in 


108  FINLAND 

traveling  in  order  to  study.  But  Finland  is  no 
imitator.  Note  her  architecture  when  you  visit 
lier, — individual,  if  anything  ever  was.  It  is 
said  that  she  shows  traces  of  Mongolian  descent 
in  her  art  and  in  her  architecture,  and  there  is 
certainly  a  gruesome  element  in  them  both  that 
makes  one  wonder. 

Europeans  think  well  of  Finnish  art,  as  they 
also  do  of  Finnish  literature.  Of  her  music 
Mr.  Young  writes : 

' '  It  will  be  found  on  examination  that  the  dis- 
tinctive character  of  popular  music  of  a  truly 
national  character  is  largely  a  question  of  cli- 
mate and  geographical  situation.  These  affect 
the  history  of  a  people  and  mainly  determine 
their  customs  and  occupations,  and  hence  are 
responsible  for  just  those  features  which  make 
it  possible  to  identify  various  folk-songs  as  Nor- 
wegian, Spanish,  or  Russian.  Now  Finland  is 
a  land  of  poetry  and  song  of  a  meditative  and 
often  a  melancholy  type.  It  expresses  the  re- 
sult of  the  influence  of  the  wide  and  lonely  for- 
ests, the  placid  expanses  of  silver  water,  and 
the  fierce  wrestling  with  the  soil  for  subsistence 
upon  the  emotions  of  the  heart.  The  mood  of 
the  Finnish  folk-song  is  not  merely  melancholy, 
it  is  despondent.  The  national  cast  of  mind, 
influenced  by  external  circumstances,  has  given 
the  Finnish  song  this  character,  and  from  the 


FINLAND  109 

beginning  of  time  joy  and  sorrow  have  entered 
into  the  life  of  the  Finnish  people  in  about  the 
same  proportion  as  warmth  and  cold  in  the 
bleak  climate." 

Finland  is  maintaining  her  individuality,  and 
in  doing  so  she  is  setting  an  example  to  the 
world.  The  Russification  or  New  Englandiza- 
tion  of  the  world  would  either  of  them  be  a 
calamity.  When  the  whole  of  America  shall  be 
made  to  conform  to  Yankee  ways,  when  the 
beautiful  ideals  of  the  Old  South  and  the  fresh- 
ness and  generosity  of  the  West  shall  succumb 
to  the  dominion  of  our  Northern  Huns,  then  the 
boat-builders  of  Europe  will  have  to  work  be- 
times that  there  may  be  sufficient  vessels  to 
carry  the  people  of  America  to  the  more  inter- 
esting shores  of  the  Old  World. 

After  having  passed  a  few  days  in  pleasant 
' '  Haapavesi ' '  I  was  on  my  way  to  Vilppula,  with 
a  pretty  picture  in  my  mind.  I  could  not  forget 
the  bright-hued  flowers  I  had  seen  nor  the  gar- 
den-maidens, their  voices  raised  in  song,  troop- 
ing behind  the  carriage  to  the  gate,  and  in  their 
midst,  with  a  gift  of  flowers,  the  founder  of 
Finland's  first  garden-school. 

Vilppula  and  Dr.  Lybeck's  Sanatorium  are 
synonymous.  You  may  possibly  have  heard  of 
Dr.  Lybeck  in  London.     He  has  the  back-to- 


110  FINLAND 

nature  idea,  and  carries  Ms  antagonism  to  hats 
to  such  an  extent  that  in  London  he  has  become 
known  as  ''the  doctor  who  doesn't  w^ear  a  hat." 
You  may  possibly  have  heard,  too,  that  Dr. 
Lybeck  sleeps  up  in  a  tree — in  the  summer 
time. 

A  slow,  dreamy-eyed  Finnish  boy  came  for- 
ward after  the  train  had  shrieked  away  and 
answered,  ''Eu,  eu,"  to  my  properly  phrased 
inquiry. 

An  eight-mile  drive  was  before  me, — some- 
thing that  I  hadn't  expected.  As  the  road  be- 
gan to  get  lonelier  and  lonelier  the  thought  oc- 
curred to  me  that  there  might  possibly  be  a 
mistake, — perhaps  I  was  not  traveling  toward 
Dr.  Lybeck 's  Sanatorium.  But  there  was  no 
way  of  finding  out,  so  I  felt  apprehensive  for 
what  seemed  an  interminable  time,  and  then 
some  houses  came  in  view,  set  high  on  a  hill, 
and  I  thought  that  probably,  after  all,  I  would 
soon  reach  the  Sanatorium.  The  road  wound 
round  and  round,  which  gave  me  time  for  reflec- 
tion. 

Coming  nearer,  I  could  see,  standing  above 
me,  before  a  cottage,  a  beautiful  man,  clad  in 
white,  and  with  flowing  hair.  He  wore  no 
shoes,  and  he  held  in  his  hand  what  seemed  to 
be  a  sun  instrument,  which  he  was  describing 
to  a  lad  who  wore  no  clothes  from  his  neck  to 


FINLAND  111 

his  waist.     There  were  no  other  people  about. 

The  man  didn't  notice  me  until  I  called  out 
''Dr.  Lybeck,"  when  he  came  forward  with  a 
pleasant  greeting. 

After  a  brief  survey  of  the  immediate  quar- 
ters we  went  in  to  lunch.  Spread  upon  a  table 
was  a  meal  quite  different  from  any  I  had  ever 
eaten  before.  There  were  eggs  and  milk  and 
brown  bread  made  of  wheat,  cheese  made  of 
goat's  milk,  lettuce,  cranberries,  several  varie- 
ties of  nuts,  and  other  edibles.  As  a  finish, 
Dr.  Lybeck  helped  himself  to  pine  kernels, 
mixed  them  thoroughly  with  honey,  and  seemed 
to  enjoy  them. 

Before  we  arose  from  the  table,  a  young  girl 
about  fifteen  years  old  entered  the  room, — a 
young  girl  whom  I  shall  call  Thelma,  because 
she  reminded  me  of  Thelma.  Her  complexion 
was  milk-white ;  she  wore  sandals,  and  her  spun- 
gold  hair  streamed  down  her  back.  She  was 
becomingly  dressed,  and  she  spoke  English  flu- 
ently. Dr.  Lybeck  told  her  to  take  me  to  my 
quarters,  which  were  at  least  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  away.  We  had  to  ascend  a  very  steep  hill, 
which,  like  the  other,  was  dramatic  in  appear- 
ance. When  we  were  half-way  up  Thelma 
pointed  out  her  father's  tree-home,  which  was 
set  high  in  a  group  of  pine  trees  that  were  close 
together.     How  transporting  to  ponder  upon 


112  FINLAND 

tlie  glories  of  the  firmament  from  sucli  an  aerie ! 
I  thought:  moon  riding  high  in  the  heavens, 
stars  glimmering  through  the  pine-tops,  feath- 
ery cloudlets  swiftly  moving,  moaning  music. 
But  when  the  wind  doth  blow,  and  the  rain  doth 
descend — 

Thelma,  of  the  spun-gold  hair,  told  me  she 
had  never  tasted  meat  in  her  life ;  and  I  learned 
that  in  this  establishment  everybody  lived  on 
vegetables. 

We  reached  the  top  of  the  hill  in  the  course 
of  time,  and  then  we  saw  small  substantially 
built  houses  of  logs  and  boards. 

My  neighbor,  on  one  side,  was  a  Russian  bar- 
oness, with  hair  cut  short  and  a  nice  face;  in 
the  room  next  to  her  there  was  a  little  English 
lecturer  on  theosophy.  In  order  to  get  to  his 
nest  the  man  whose  home  was  above  had  to 
climb  a  ladder,  which  he  did  as  agilely  as  if  he 
were  born  to  it. 

Supper  was  served  al  fresco.  First  there 
was  blue-berry  soup,  and  then  there  were  sev- 
eral nice-looking  dishes  the  names  of  which  I 
did  not  know  and  others  that  I  was  familiar 
with,  but  I  was  dieting,  so  I  ate  only  eggs,  fil- 
bunke, — a  sort  of  clabber, — and  bread  and  but- 
ter. I  suffered  the  whole  time  I  was  at  the 
Sanatorium  because  of  the  doctor's  antagonism 
to  tea. 


FINLAND  113 

Somo  of  the  guests  wore  their  hair  down  the 
back,  and  I  think  they  all  went  bare-footed. 

The  young  woman  who  waited  on  the  table 
was  also  a  daughter  of  the  house.  Her  hair 
was  short,  she  dressed  in  blue  cotton  bloomers, 
and  she  could  run  like  the  deer  of  the  forest. 
After  having  seen  her,  I  was  quite  convinced 
why  woman's  gait  resembles  a  cow's, — she 
doesn't  wear  bloomers. 

All  sorts  of  sun  baths  and  air  baths  can  be 
taken  in  this  Sanatorium,  and  I  heard  that  one 
man  had  starved  himself  for  sixty  days.  It 
costs  very  little  to  stay  at  the  Sanatorium  and 
people  come  sometimes  just  for  the  rest. 

Before  I  left  Vilppula  I  had  the  opportunity 
of  testing  a  Finnish  chimney.  There  was  one 
in  my  room,  and  on  a  day  when  I  tried  to 
imagine  it  was  cold  I  called  for  a  fire.  Wonder- 
ful things,  these  Finnish  chimneys!  I  think 
the  fireless  cooker  idea  must  have  originated 
from  them.  Put  on  two  small  armfuls  of  wood 
and  the  chimney  will  be  as  warm  as  toast  the 
next  morning.  I  wish  I  could  explain  the  prin- 
ciple upon  which  they  work,  for  they  must  save 
a  great  deal  of  wood. 


CHAPTER  IX 

INDUSTRIAL  FINLAND 

Tammerfors  —  Finnish  Painting  —  The  Peasant  Poor  —  Cotton 
Factories  —  Paper  Mills  —  Mechanical  Workshops  —  Fin- 
nish Tariff  —  The  South's  Economic  Condition  Contrasted 
with  Finland's  —  Finland's  System  of  Government  —  Fis- 
cal Policy  —  Railway  Station  —  Eating-places  —  Helsing- 
fors  again  —  Abo  —  Porthan  —  Karin  Mansdotter  —  Well 
of  St.  Henrich  —  Adieu  to  Finland  —  My  Passport. 

My  first  visit  in  Tammerfors,  Finland's  prin- 
cipal manufacturing  city,  was  to  St.  John's 
Church,  where  there  is  a  collection  of  rather 
extraordinary  paintings.  '^The  Resurrection" 
looms  large  over  the  altar.  How  like  the  unu- 
sual taste  of  the  Finns  is  this  painting!  The 
artist  has  certainly  depicted  astonishment  in  the 
attitude  of  the  naked  and  shrouded  ghosts,  from 
which  the  gazer's  eye  moves  to  the  cross  on  the 
ground  and  the  broken  earth.  To  one  side  of 
''The  Resurrection"  is  a  garden, — ''The  Gar- 
den of  Death,"  it  is  called.  Three  black-robed 
skeletons  show  conspicuously,  one  of  whom  is 
watering  flowers  from  a  watering-pot.  There 
is  another  striking  painting  of  two  small  boys 
carrying    a    wounded    angel.     Decorating    the 

114 


o 

u 

w 

O 
m 

W 

w 


FINLAND  115 

gallery  all  round  are  little  nude  boys  holding  up 
a  continuous  evergreen  wreath  which  shows 
clusters  of  red  berries.  If  you  raise  your  eyes, 
— gruesome ! — there  is  a  snake  in  the  center  of 
the  ceiling! 

While  speaking  of  pictures  I  recall  the 
''Sved"  (clearing  of  the  forests),  Jarnevelt's 
famous  painting,  which  I  saw  at  the  Athenaeum 
in  Helsingfors,  and  which  impresses  all  visi- 
tors. In  years  gone  by,  land  was  cleared  by 
burning  the  forests,  when  seeds  were  planted 
in  the  ashes  about  the  tree-stumps. 

Life  is  not  so  hard  to-day  in  Finland  among 
the  peasant  poor;  but  the  soil  yields  scantily 
according  to  our  way  of  thinking.  Rye,  oats, 
wheat,  barley,  and  hay,  are  raised.  The  Finns 
dry  their  grain  in  houses  without  chimneys, 
which  they  call  "riars";  the  heat  and  smoke, 
by  killing  the  germs,  make  Finnish  rye  valuable 
as  seed.  Berries  grow  in  large  quantities,  but 
there  are  no  orchards. 

My  advice  to  a  Finnish  laborer  who  wanted 
to  emigrate  was  to  stay  at  home,  raise  berries, 
make  jam,  and  thus  earn  a  fortune. 

But  Tammerfors  is  a  manufacturing  city, 
even  if  it  is  situated  in  the  most  fertile  plain  in 
Finland.  Its  cotton  industry  was  begun  by  a 
member  of  that  race  that  is  taking  London, 
building  Canada,  and  depleting  its  own  land, — 


116  FINLAND 

canny  Scotland.  Point  me  out  a  land  deprived 
of  Home  Rule  that  is  thriving! 

Tammerfors  has  wonderful  water-power; 
engine-power  is  used  when  the  water  runs  low, 
as  it  does  sometimes  in  summer. 

The  morning  after  my  arrival  I  knocked  at 
the  door  of  a  big  cotton  factory  and  was  ad- 
mitted. There  were  busy  ninety  thousand 
spindles,  two  thousand  looms,  and  twenty-three 
hundred  hands.  This  factory  had  a  capital  of 
twelve  million  marks.  The  cotton  it  used  came 
from  Cotton's  Own  Land, — Dixie.  What 
wealth  this  resource  would  bring  to  the  South, 
if  the  laws  of  the  country  were  only  just  to  that 
section  of  our  land.  Some  Egyptian  cotton  is 
also  used.  ''We  go  in  for  comfort,  not  for 
gain,"  said  my  guide,  and  I  noticed  how  im- 
maculately neat  everything  was.  I  saw  good 
cotton  blankets,  bed-ticking,  and  many  patterns 
of  dress  goods.  I  also  visited  a  fine  woolen 
factory  and  a  beautiful  linen  factory,  the  larg- 
est in  Finland,  working  two  thousand  hands  and 
enlarging  every  year.  The  very  finest  quality 
of  table-cloths,  napkins,  and  towels  are  made  in 
this  establishment.  Flax  is  raised  in  Finland, 
but  the  greater  part  of  that  that  is  used  in  these 
factories  comes  from  Russia,  although  some 
of  it  comes  from  Ireland  and  Belgium. 

Finland's  paper  mills  have  a  considerable 


FINLAND  117 

reputation,  and  the  paper  is  usually  sent  to 
Russia,  which  allows  Finland  preferential  rates. 

These  factories  all  seemed  to  be  conducted  in 
a  veiy  businesslike  way.  Women  were  sorting 
in  a  room  piles  of  rags  that  had  come  from 
Russia.  I  inquired  whether  or  not  these  rags 
had  been  disinfected  and  was  told  they  had  not 
been.  The  Finlanders  are  a  very  honest  peo- 
ple and  my  guide  spoke  the  truth  whereas  in 
another  land  the  trade  instinct  for  lying  prob- 
ably would  have  prompted  another  answer. 

Finland  has  a  good  many  mechanical  work- 
shops. The  one  at  Tammerfors  makes  iron, 
principally  for  use  in  Finland, — locomotives, 
water  turbines,  and  machinery  for  paper-mills. 
A  good  deal  of  Yankee  machinery  is  used  in 
Finland.  ''Every  year,"  said  the  guide,  ''we 
send  out  people  to  Denmark,  Ireland,  Ger- 
many, and  other  countries  to  study  their 
methods  of  making  machinery.  In  a  few  days 
I  am  going  to  an  exhibition  of  linen  machinery 
in  Ghent." 

The  Finlanders  are  a  hardy  race.  I  was  told 
of  a  woman  who  sometimes  in  the  dead  of  win- 
ter will  walk  through  snow  the  distance  of  a 
kilometer  to  the  factory,  and  children  will  run 
from  one  factory  to  another,  bare-foot  through 
the  snow. 

Among  the  problems  that  hang  heavy  on  the 


118  FINLAND 

horizon  of  Finland  is  the  threat  to  bring  the 
Finnish  tariff  up  to  the  level  of  the  Russian 
tariff.  N.  C.  Frederiksen,  in  his  ''Public  and 
Private  Economy  of  Finland,"  published  in 
1902,  writes  as  follows  on  that  subject : 

''The  amalgamation  of  the  Finnish  tariff 
with  the  Russian  would  be  an  enormous  diminu- 
tion in  existing  industrial  hberty.  The  Russian 
tariff  imposes  a  high  duty  on  the  principal  as 
well  as  on  the  accessory  materials  of  manufac- 
ture, on  coal,  iron,  machinery,  cotton,  and  on  all 
the  chief  necessities  of  life.  The  duty  is  gen- 
erally three  or  four  times  as  high  as  the  duty 
in  Finland,  and  often  even  more.  It  is  twice  as 
high  on  iron  and  steel  billets,  more  than  twice 
as  high  on  iron  plates,  forged  iron,  nails,  and 
machines ;  ten  times  as  high  on  wool,  and  three 
to  four  times  as  high  on  cotton  yarn.  The  duty 
on  iron  ore  would  increase  the  price  of  pig-iron 
by  not  less  than  35  marks  ($7.00)  per  ton,  .  .  . 
the  hides  and  the  tanning  material  of  the  great 
tanneries  would  cost  considerably  more.  .  .  . 
The  introduction  of  these  tariff  duties  into  Fin- 
land would  cripple  many  of  the  best  manufac- 
tures of  the  country,  especially  its  agriculture 
and  forest  industry.  This  evil  influence  is  ap- 
parent enough  in  Russia,  where  it  contributes 
greatly  to  the  impoverishment  of  the  farmers. 
...  It  might  benefit  particular  businesses.  .  .  . 


FINLAND  119 

possibly  also  more  waterfalls  would  be  utilised 
and  divers  new  factories  erected.  But  it  would 
be  bad  business  and  result  in  a  loss  to  the  na- 
tion. It  would  not  be  the  Finlanders  them- 
selves, but  rather,  as  in  Russia,  foreign  capital- 
ists, who  would  establish  the  new  industries 
and  make  money  at  the  expense  of  the  people. 
The  manufacturers  themselves  would,  for  the 
most  part,  be  of  the  same  character  as  at  pres- 
ent in  Russia,  where  so  many  mines  and  fac- 
tories live  at  the  expense  of  the  people,  and 
their  owners  often  benefit  enormously.  But 
every  such  factory  is  obliged  to  close  on  the  day 
when  reason  resumes  its  sway  and  liberty  en- 
ters. .  .  . 

''While  a  tariff  union  with  Russia  under  the 
present  protective  and  prohibitive  system  .  .  . 
would  increase  the  price  of  all  present  imports, 
— coal,  iron,  and  other  metals,  machines,  and 
the  most  common  necessaries  of  life,  such  as 
sugar,  coffee,  and  salt.  By  destroying  the  im- 
port trade  it  would  also  hinder  export,  first  by 
rendering  life  and  production  more  difficult  and 
costly;  then  by  diminishing  the  already  small 
freights  which  ships  can  take  home  to  the 
country;  finally  by  decreasing  the  value  of  the 
means  of  payment  in  foreign  countries — its  bills 
of  exchange  on  these  countries.  If  we  consider 
its  influence  on  commerce,  that  most  useful  aid 


120  FINLAND 

to  civilisation,  we  shall  understand  still  better 
the  extent  to  which  this  measure  would  be  de- 
structive of  the  whole  national  development. 
...  It  is  calculated  that  a  simple  fisher  family 
consisting  of  four  persons,  which  is  rather  be- 
low the  general  number,  would  have  to  pay 
eighty-five  marks  ($17.00)  more  per  annum; 
fifty-five  marks  fifty  penni  ($11.50)  as  increased 
duty  on  the  salt  needed  for  forty  barrels  of 
Baltic  herrings  prepared  for  sale,  and  thirty 
marks  ($6.00)  for  such  simple  necessities  as  cof- 
fee, chickoiy,  iron,  etc.  A  Finnish  cottier  who 
keeps  four  cows  and  a  horse  would  have  to  pay 
fifty  marks  ($10.00)  extra  for  iron,  nails,  wool- 
ens, coffee,  chickory,  etc.  A  common  peasant 
proprietor  with  forty  cows  and  five  horses 
would  have  to  pay  fifty-four  marks  ($10.80)  for 
iron  and  nails,  and  seven  marks  twenty  penni 
($1.44)  for  artificial  manure,  or  a  total  of  240 
marks  ($48.00)  more.  .  .  . 

"Instead  of  recognising  the  natural  and 
proper  right  of  the  nation  to  vote  its  own  most 
important  tax,  the  special  Eussian  interests 
which  rule  in  St.  Petersburg  have  now  de- 
manded concessions  which  would  be  greatly  to 
the  disadvantage  of  Finland  and  which  might 
even  entirely  destroy  the  present  basis  of  the 
national  economy.     There  has  already  been  an 


FINLAND  121 

insecurity  and  continual  variation  in  tlie  tariff 
without  sufficient  reason,  which  has  done  harm 
to  the  industries  of  the  country,  and  which  is 
not  in  accordance  with  good  conservative  prin- 
ciples. .  .  .  But  the  present  condition  of  the 
national  economy  and,  in  fact,  of  the  whole  civ- 
ilisation of  the  country  would  be  changed.  In- 
stead of  furthering  civilisation  such  a  measure 
would,  without  any  necessity  whatever,  injure 
the  life  of  the  people  and  contribute  to  force  it 
down  to  the  same  low  level  as  that  of  a  great 
part  of  Russia's  inhabitants.  We  need  not  re- 
fer to  the  inevitable  demoralisation  which  would 
follow ;  the  smuggling  which  it  would  be  impos- 
sible to  prevent  on  these  cut-up  coasts,  where 
the  whole  population  knows  and  uses  the  sea  as 
their  great  highway,  and  which  would  be  to  the 
detriment  of  the  finances  of  Russia  itself,  as 
well  as  its  artificially  developed  manufacturing 
industries.  All  the  conditions  for  progress  are 
here ;  the  whole  difficulty  comes  whence  it  ought 
not  to  come,  from  the  rulers  in  St.  Petersburg, 
.  .  .  the  country  menaced  with  economic  de- 
struction. .  .  . 

*' A  Russian  customs  tariff  would  not  make  it 
absolutely  impossible  to  live  in  Finland;  it 
might  improve  certain  industries  in  an  artificial 
manner  and  at  the  expense  of  the  people,  but  it 


122  FINLAND 

would  cause  a  fearful  depression  in  the  whole 
manner  of  living  and  be  a  hindrance  to  pro- 
gress, public  health,  and  well-being  as  well  as 
an  immense  burden  on  the  natural  industries  of 
the  country,  agriculture,  exploitation  of  the  for- 
ests, and  all  connected  therewith,  and  most  of 
the  manufactures  which  are  really  indigenous 
to  the  country,  not  to  speak  of  commerce  and 
navigation.  Justice  is  necessary  for  all  social 
and  individual  life,  for  labor,  capital,  and  for 
life  itself." 

But,  as  an  evidence  of  how  impossible  it  is 
for  one  body  of  people  to  see  straight  for  an- 
other and  how  necessary  it  is  in  the  great 
struggle  for  existence  that  each  community  keep 
an  individual  look-out,  this  same  N.  C.  Fred- 
eriksen  observes : 

''The  United  States  could  make  great  prog- 
ress, notwithstanding  a  bad  tariff,  because  they 
form  a  continent  which  is  largely  self-sufficient, 
and  where  the  wealth  of  one  part  assists  the 
making  of  wealth  in  other  parts.  Finland 
would  be  separated  for  economic  purposes  from 
the  more  civilised  countries,  and  bound  to  the 
poverty-stricken,  artificially  isolated,  and  op- 
pressed Russia." 

Now,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  we  cannot  see  where 
the  great  difference  comes  in.  Eussia  is  piti- 
fully poor;  she  is  also  plentifully  rich.    In  all 


FINLAND  123 

immense  countries  the  wealth  gets  drained  into 
the  part  where  the  people  are  the  most  crafty 
and  the  most  keen  for  it. 

Finland  and  Russia — that  part  of  Russia 
whose  economy  is  considered — are  more  nearly 
alike  than  are  the  several  sections  of  the 
United  States.  Jefferson,  Hamilton,  Madison, 
and  all  the  States  recognised  the  three  sec- 
tions before  and  after  the  ratifying  of  the 
present  constitution,  and  no  one  of  these  sec- 
tions desires  to  be  eaten  up  by  the  other  any 
more  than  Finland  desires  to  be  eaten  up  by 
Russia.  Indeed  the  patriot  fathers  never  sup- 
posed that  such  a  thing  could  come  to  pass, — 
they  had  too  much  faith  in  the  states  that  rati- 
fied the  Constitution  for  their  mutual  benefit. 

Of  the  two  Democracies  which  existed  before 
the  ratifying  of  the  present  constitution,  Vir- 
ginia, the  wealthiest  and  the  largest,  was  the 
leader  of  one,  and  she  owed  her  independent 
existence  before  she  ratified  the  constitution  to 
her  own  Captain's  exertions,  and  not  to  the 
generosity  of  a  noble-minded  Tsar.  And  in 
ratifying  the  present  constitution  she  reserved 
the  right  of  withdrawing  from  the  federation  if 
she  found  it  detrimental  to  her  people's  good. 

It  has  been  said  that  Finland  has  no  stain 
upon  the  pages  of  her  histoiy.  Quite  true. 
She  has  not  built  up  her  civilisation  by  the  in- 


124  FINLAND 

ordinate  taxation  of  another  people,  as  New 
England  has,  thereby  depleting  their  educa- 
tional institutions  and  causing  their  decay, — 
and  a  people,  too,  that  had  suffered  its  very 
life-blood  to  flow  for  her  salvation! 

I  am  so  in  the  habit  of  thinking  of  the  South 's 
economic  conditions,  of  endeavoring  to  study 
the  why  and  the  wherefore  of  her  passing  out 
of  the  hands  of  her  original  owners,  that  I  could 
not,  if  I  would,  break  myself  of  the  habit. 

Constitutionally  speaking,  Finland's  head  is 
the  Tsar  of  all  the  Russias,  and  he  holds  the 
position  of  Grand  Duke  of  the  Duchy  of  Fin- 
land; and  the  Grand  Duke  vows  to  keep  Fin- 
land's constitution.  He  can  sanction  no  laws 
that  have  not  been  approved,  or  made,  by  the 
diet, — that  is,  laws  concerning  Finland's  inter- 
nal government.  Externally, — that  is,  with  re- 
spect to  matters  concerning  foreign  affairs,  the 
appointing  of  consuls,  and  decisions  as  to  war, 
— the  Grand  Duke  becomes  the  Tsar  of  all  the 
Russias. 

Russia  also  supplies  a  Governor-General, 
who  leads  the  Senate,  a  body  supposed  to  be 
composed  of  Finlanders  whose  duties  are  eco- 
nomic and  judicial.  This  body  at  present  has 
an  undesirable  reputation,  being  composed  of 
men  who  would  break  any  laws  in  favor  of  their 
purses. 


FINLAND  125 

The  Diet  makes  the  laws,  subject  to  the 
Grand  Duke's  approval. 

Eegarding  Finland's  fiscal  policy,  I  will  use 
the  following  figures  of  the  Russian  Year  Book : 

Revenue  in  toto  for  1908.  .Frnk.  168,323,796.14 

Customs  and  Excise 57,691,201.97 

State  Railways, 40,837,791.08 

Crown  Forests, 10,778,784.64 

Post  and  Government  Fees  6,240,099.34 

The  State  also  owns  the  Saima  Canal,  farms 
that  it  rents  out,  and  some  public  buildings. 

The  surplus  revenue  of  1908  amounted  to 
7,816,750  Franks. 

What  becomes  of  this  surplus?  The  Grand 
Duke  has  the  disposal  of  it. 

Is  there  danger  of  its  being  misused?  ''We 
do  not  think  that  there  is  the  least  reason  for 
doubt  here,"  says  N.  C.  Frederiksen  in  his 
"Finland,  Its  Public  and  Private  Economy," 
published  in  1902.     He  also  says: 

"Whatever  may  be  said  against  the  Russian 
Government  and  its  administration,  it  must  be 
recognised  that  the  Government  in  St.  Peters- 
burg acts  always  on  the  very  strictest  principle 
in  all  questions  of  finance  and  credit.  Whether 
or  not  this  is  due  to  a  perception  of  self-interest 
or  is  a  consequence  of  the  great  difference  in 
principle  which  is  found  in  the  different  parts 


126  FINLAND 

of  the  Russian  Government,  it  is  a  fact  wliicli 
cannot  be  denied.  We  are  fully  convinced  that 
in  these  matters  there  will  never  be  the  least 
question  of  any  transgression  whatever  in  rela- 
tion to  Finland.  It  would  be  against  the  whole 
tradition  which  the  rulers  in  St.  Petersburg 
have  always  followed,  and  which  with  them  has 
been  a  point  of  honor." 

Ponder  upon  it,  if  you  can, — a  nation  with 
honor! 

And  this  is  why  a  little  community  number- 
ing three  millions  of  people  has  been  enabled  to 
advance  its  civilisation, — because  there  was  a 
power  over  it  which  was  not  without  honor. 

'  *  But  Russia  is  trying  to  take  our  civilisation 
away  from  us  now.  We  will  soon  have  to  pay 
her  twenty  million  marks  ($4,000,000)  a  year 
for  military.  Finland  is  poor;  she  cannot  af- 
ford it.     You  are  rich  in  America." 

I  had  been  talking  with  a  woman  about  Fin- 
land's schools. 

"No,"  I  said,  "America  is  poor.  I  know 
America ;  her  hills  and  valleys  are  full  of  illiter- 
acy and  discomfort  and  apathy."  Then  I  said 
that  there  is  a  large  part  of  America  that  is 
tributary,  and  that  each  state  has  to  pay  some- 
thing like  twenty  million  marks  ($4,000,000)  a 
year  toward  a  cruel  pension  bill  for  another 
people, — for  their  near  relations,  fathers,  moth- 


FINLAND  127 

ers,  sisters,  brothers,  soldiers, — and  I  told  her 
that  the  purchasing  power  of  these  States  had 
been  brought  down  one-half  because  of  a  wicked 
tariff  for  the  benefit  of  a  people  in  another  sec- 
tion, and  that  these  states  receive  back  only 
about  one-fifth  of  what  they  give  into  the  public 
treasury,  which  is  the  reason  why  their  hills 
and  valleys  are  so  full  of  illiteracy  and  dis- 
comfort and  apathy.  And  I  told  her  that  Fin- 
land was  better  off  under  Russian  rule  than  she 
would  have  been  under  Yankee  rule. 

Prison  bars!  Press  censorship!  I  would 
rather  go  to  prison  than  suffer  the  public-opin- 
ion censorship  of  America,  where  we  cannot 
quote  the  opinions  of  the  patriot  fathers, — Jef- 
ferson, Hamilton,  Madison, — without  a  cen- 
sorship worse  than  prison  bars;  where  the 
first  law  of  nature,  self-preservation,  but  slum- 
bers. 

If  Russia  succeeds  in  swallowing  Finland,  she 
will  discover  a  morsel  as  indigestible  as  Vaina- 
moinen  in  the  bowels  of  Antero  Vipunen;  for 
Finland  is  learned  in  the  law  of  resistance  to 
wrong. 

My  farewell  meal  at  Tammerfors  was  eaten 
at  the  station  restaurant,  which  may  be  taken  as 
a  good  example  of  the  method  of  serving  food 
at  the  railway  stations  in  Finland.  In  the  cen- 
ter of  the  room  is  a  table,  neatly  spread  with 


128  FINLAND 

well-prepared  food.  You  are  expected  to  help 
3^oiirself  to  as  much  or  as  little  as  you  please ; 
the  charge  is  the  same,  and  very  moderate. 

The  train  reached  Helsingfors  at  night. 
Eicher  by  many  experiences,  I  crossed  the  wide 
space  to  the  Fennia  Hotel,  from  which  I  had 
started  a  few  weeks  before,  and  I  slept  soundly 
all  night. 

I  had  only  a  few  days  to  spend  at  Helsingfors, 
and  then  I  went  to  Abo,  the  ancient  capital  of 
the  country,  where  I  was  to  say  good-bye  to 
Finland. 

I  was  sorry  to  miss  seeing  Hango,  the  fash- 
ionable resort  and  also  the  butter  depot,  which 
I  should  have  visited  first,  for  I  had  a  letter  of 
introduction  to  people  there. 

At  Abo  there  is  a  beautiful  folk-school  to 
see;  and  tliere  is  also  a  splendid  view  from 
Navigation  College,  and  refreshments  are  to  be 
had  at  the  Hamburger  Bors,  to  the  music  of  an 
orchestra,  composed  of  women. 

I  should  like  to  have  seen  the  statue  of  Por- 
than, — he  who  awakened  the  patriotism  of  the 
Finns.  I  should  like  to  have  placed  roses  at  his 
feet  and  a  wreath  on  his  head. 

I  should  like  to  have  peeped  into  the  Cathe- 
dral, for  a  look  at  the  painting  of  Karin  Mans- 
dotter, — white-robed,  descending  her  throne, — 
a  one-time  queen.     She  was  a  little  nut-seller  in 


FINLAND  129 

the  market-place  at  Stockholm  when  the  future 
King  Eric  XIV  chanced  her  way.  He  had  her 
educated,  and  then  married  her,  after  having 
been  refused  by  a  few  royal  princesses,  the 
haughty  Elizabeth  among  them. 

They  do  say  that  some  one  sent  him  a  coat 
with  a  patch  in  it,  which  he  returned,  after  the 
patch  had  been  repatched  with  jewels,  which 
was  to  indicate  that  he  considered  the  patch  the 
best  part  of  the  coat. 

In  the  course  of  time  Eric  went  mad,  and 
Karin  spent  many  sad  years  in  a  castle  near 
the  exquisite  Kangasala  ridge. 

But  there  is  something  more  interesting  than 
the  cathedral  to  see :  it  is  the  Well  of  St.  Hen- 
rich,  where  baptism  was  first  administered  to 
the  Finns.  So  to  the  Well  of  St.  Henrich  we 
went, — a  Swedish  lady,  a  Finnish  gentleman, 
and  I, — to  Kuppis  Park  on  the  outskirts  of  the 
town  where  the  Well  of  St.  Henrich  is.  A  little 
maid  ran  for  some  glasses,  and  of  course  we 
drank  from  the  Well  of  St.  Henrich. 

I  lifted  my  glass :  ' '  To  Finland !  May  Eus- 
sia  vanish  from  her  shores!  And  may  the 
great  liberty  wave  that  is  spreading  throughout 
the  world, — touching  India  in  the  East;  Egypt 
in  the  South ;  Ireland,  Poland,  Bavaria,  Alsace, 
and  all  peoples  who  are  enslaved, — reach  the 
shores  of  America  and  wash  away  the  stained 


130  FINLAND 

pension  bill  the  thongs  of  which  I  see  piercing 
the  sides  of  the  little  children,  the  aged  mothers, 
the  toiling  sisters,  and  crippled  brothers  of  the 
South." 

Then,  and  then  only,  shall  our  hills  bloom 
with  schools  and  colleges  like  other  civilised 
lands;  then,  and  then  only,  shall  our  standard 
of  living  rise, — when  our  men  awaken  from  the 
apathy  that  degrades  them, — when  tribute-pay- 
ing ceases. 

And  it  seemed  to  me,  as  I  stood  there  at  the 
Well  of  St.  Henrich,  that  I  heard  a  voice  say: 
'*It  shall  come  to  pass." 

And  now  I  am  driving  down  to  the  dock  in  a 
drosky.  I'm  tired,  and  it  is  restful  to  see  the 
white  ship  come  in  view.  After  a  talk  with  the 
first  mate,  who  speaks  English,  I  wander  out  on 
deck  for  a  look  about  me.  Presently  the  first 
mate  comes  out. 

''Have  you  your  passport?" 

''Passport!  Good  Heavens!  I  never  once 
thought  of  it." 

"I'm  afraid  they  won't  let  you  go  without  a 
passport.     They  are  very  strict." 

"It's  packed  away  in  my  trunk,  which  is 
booked  through  to  London  via  Stockholm  and 
Berlin.  Perhaps  my  trunk  will  come  in  time, 
and  I  can  get  it." 


FINLAND  131 

*'I  don't  know — if  it  is  booked  through  to 
London." 

**I'm  not  feeling  well,  and  if  they  make  me 
stay,  they  will  just  have  to  take  care  of  me ;  and 
I  don't  know  the  language." 

I  handed  him  some  credentials  that  I  had. 

"I'll  speak  to  the  policeman  for  you." 

He  went  off  and  in  a  little  while  the  police- 
man came  on  board.  I  was  seated  on  the  edge 
of  my  sofa-berth,  with  my  pine-root  bag  at  my 
feet,  wondering  what  I  was  going  to  do,  when 
I  heard  them  talking  in  the  cabin,  the  police- 
man speaking  quite  emphatically. 

In  a  few  minutes  he  appeared  at  my  door, 
with  a  bothered  expression  on  his  face,  which 
cleared  the  moment  he  saw  me.  I  must  have 
looked  very  meek  and  inconsequential  huddled 
there  on  the  edge  of  my  sofa-berth,  wondering 
what  I  was  going  to  do. 

The  policeman  indicated  to  me  that  I  was  to 
come  on  shore  five  minutes  before  the  boat  left, 
and  if  my  trunk  had  come  I  could  get  my  pass- 
port out  of  it. 

About  three  minutes  before  the  boat  was  to 
leave  I  appeared  at  the  gangway  with  my  pine- 
root  bag  and  umbrella. 

''Do  you  speak  English?"  I  said  to  a  Swed- 
ish-looking gentleman  who  was  coming  aboard. 

"Yes;  what  can  I  do  for  you?" 


132  FINLAND 

''I've  forgotten  my  passport,  and  the  police- 
man said  I  was  to  come  on  shore  five  minutes 
before  the  boat  leaves.  I'm  not  sure  that  I  can 
go  this  trip." 

"You  shouldn't  have  forgotten  your  pass- 
port ;  they  are  very  strict. ' ' 

''It  never  occurred  to  me — " 

"Shall  I  speak  to  the  policeman  for  you?" 

"Please." 

I  stood  by  the  railing  of  the  deck  studying 
the  policeman's  face — beseechingly. 

In  a  few  minutes  the  Swedish-looking  gentle- 
man came  back. 

"He  says  you  may  go." 

' '  And  my  trunk  ? ' ' 

"It  hasn't  come." 

The  ship  moved  off.  There  were  not  many 
travelers.  I  sat  on  the  deck  watching  the  re- 
ceding shores  of  Finland,  and  musing  upon  the 
subject  of  passports.  I  wanted  to  smile,  but  I 
knew  it  wouldn't  do,  for  there  stood  the  kind 
policeman,  and  who  knows  but  what  he  might 
order  the  boat  back  and  have  me  put  on  shore. 

But  when  the  grey  veil  of  distance  dropped 
down,  the  funny  side  of  the  affair  overcame  me. 

What  a  disturbance  I  do  make  with  pass- 
ports! When  Gabriel  blows  his  trumpet,  may 
my  passport  not  be  packed  away  in  my  trunk, 
booked  through  to  London  I 


CHAPTER  X 

STORIES   FROM    THE    KALEVALA 

The  Kalevala,  meaning  ''Land  of  Heroes," 
is  the  national  epic  of  Finland.  The  poem  has 
four  heroes :  Viiinamoinen,  the  wise  man,  the 
principal  character,  an  aged  hero;  Lemmin- 
kainen,  the  foolish  man,  a  handsome,  rollicking 
youth,  ever  courting  the  girls;  Ilmarinen,  a 
mighty  smith,  and  brother  to  Vainamoinen; 
Kullervo,  an  unfortunate  slave. 

Joukahainen  desires  to  contend  with  Vai- 
namoinen in  Wisdom,  and  not  being  able  to  do 
so,  challenges  him  to  a  duel.  Vainamoinen,  an- 
gered, sinks  him  in  a  swamp,  whence  Jouka- 
hainen at  last  obtains  release  by  offering  Vai- 
namoinen his  lovely  sister  Aino.  From  his  po- 
sition in  the  swamp  Joukahainen  appeals: — 

''0  thou  wisest  Vainamoinen, 
0  thou  oldest  of  magicians. 
Sing  once  more  thy  songs  of  magic. 
Grant  the  life  of  one  so  wretched, 
And  release  me  from  my  prison. 
You  shall  have  my  sister  Aino, 

133 


134  FINLAND 

I  will  give  my  mother's  daughter. 
She  shall  dust  your  chamber  for  you, 
Sweep  the  flooring  with  her  besom, 
Keep  the  milk-pots  all  in  order; 
And  shall  wash  your  garments  for  you. 
Golden  fabrics  she  shall  weave  you. 
And  shall  bake  you  cakes  of  honey." 

Then  the  aged  Vainamoinen, 
Heard  his  words  and  grew  full  joyful, 
Since  to  tend  his  age  was  promised 
Joukahainen's  lovely  sister. 

On  the  stone  of  joy  he  sat  him, 
On  the  stone  of  song  he  rested, 
Sang  an  hour  and  sang  a  second, 
And  again  he  sang  a  third  time : 
Thus  reversed  his  w^ords  of  magic, 
And  dissolved  the  spell  completely. 

Then  the  youthful  Joukahainen 
From  the  mud  his  chin  uplifted. 
And  his  beard  he  disentangled. 
From  the  rock  his  steed  led  forward, 
Drew  his  sledge  from  out  the  bushes. 
From  the  reeds  his  whip  unloosing. 

Then  upon  his  sledge  he  mounted. 
And  upon  the  seat  he  sat  him. 
And  with  gloomy  thoughts  he  hastened, 


FINLAND  135 

With  a  heart  all  sad  and  doleful, 
Homeward  to  his  dearest  mother, 
Unto  her  the  aged  woman. 

On  he  drove  with  noise  and  tumult. 
Home  he  drove  in  consternation. 
And  he  broke  the  sledge  to  pieces. 
At  the  door  the  shafts  were  broken. 

Then  the  noise  alarmed  his  mother, 
And  his  father  came  and  asked  him, 
''Did  you  break  the  shafts  on  purpose? 
Wherefore  do  you  drive  so  rashly. 
And  arrive  at  home  so  madly?" 

Then  the  youthful  Joukahainen 
Could  not  keep  his  tears  from  flowing; 
Sad  he  bowed  his  head  in  sorrow. 

And  his  mother  came  and  asked  him, 
*'0  my  son,  why  weep  so  sadly? 
*'0  my  darling,  why  so  troubled?" 

Said  the  youthful  Joukahainen, 
**0  my  mother,  who  has  borne  me, 
There  is  cause  for  what  has  happened, 
I  myself  must  weep  for  ever. 
And  must  pass  my  life  in  weeping. 
For  my  very  sister  Aino, 
She,  my  dearest  mother's  daughter, 


136  FINLAND 

I  liave  pledged  to  Vainamoinen, 
As  the  consort  of  the  minstrel, 
To  support  his  feeble  footsteps, 
And  to  wait  upon  him  always." 

Joyous  clapped  her  hands  his  mother, 
Both  her  hands  she  rubbed  together, 
And  she  spake  the  words  which  follow: 
*'Do  not  weep,  my  son,  my  dearest, 
For  thy  tears  are  quite  uncalled  for. 
Little  cause  have  we  to  sorrow, 
For  the  hope  I  long  have  cherished. 
All  my  lifetime  I  have  wished  it. 
And  have  hoped  this  high-bom  hero 
Might  akin  to  us  be  reckoned. 
And  the  minstrel  Vainamoinen 
Might  become  my  daughter's  husband." 

But  when  Joukahainen's  sister 
Heard,  she  wept  in  deepest  sorrow, 
Wept  one  day,  and  wept  a  second. 
At  the  threshold  ever  weeping. 
Wept  in  overwhelming  sorrow. 
In  the  sadness  of  her  spirit. 

Then  her  mother  said  consoling, 
"Wherefore  weep,  my  little  Aino? 
You  have  gained  a  valiant  bridegroom. 
And  the  home  of  one  most  noble. 


FINLAND  137 

Where  you'll  look  from  out  the  window, 
Sitting  on  the  bench  and  talking." 

But  her  daughter  heard  and  answered, 
**0  my  mother,  who  hast  borne  me, 
Therefore  have  I  cause  for  weeping, 
Weeping  for  the  beauteous  tresses. 
Now  my  youthful  head  adorning. 
And  my  hair  so  soft  and  glossy. 
Which  must  now  be  wholly  hidden. 
While  I  still  am  young  and  blooming. 

' '  Then  must  I  through  lifetime  sorrow 
For  the  splendour  of  the  sunlight. 
And  the  moonbeam's  charming  lustre 
And  the  glory  of  the  heavens 
Which  I  leave,  while  still  so  youthful, 
And  as  child  must  quite  abandon, 
I  must  leave  my  brother's  workroom. 
Just  beyond  my  father's  window." 

Said  the  mother  to  the  daughter. 
To  the  girl  the  crone  made  answer, 
"Cast  away  this  foolish  sorrow, 
Cease  your  weeping  all  uncalled  for. 
Little  cause  have  you  for  sorrow. 
Little  cause  for  lamentation, 
God's  bright  sun  is  ever  shining 
On  the  world  in  other  regions, 


138  FINLAND 

Shines  on  other  doors  and  windows 
Than  your  father's  or  your  brother's; 
Berries  grow  on  every  mountain, 
Strawberries  on  the  plains  are  growing, 
You  can  pluck  them  in  your  sorrow 
Whereso'er  your  steps  may  lead  you; 
Not  alone  on  father's  acres. 
Or  upon  your  brother's  clearings." 

Then  the  little  maiden  Aino, 
Youthful  Joukahainen's  sister. 
Went  for  besoms  to  the  greenwood. 
Sought  for  bath-whisks  in  the  bushes; 
One  she  gathered  for  her  father. 
And  a  second  for  her  mother. 
And  she  gathered  yet  another. 
For  her  young  and  ruddy  brother. 

As  she  turned  her  footsteps  homeward 
Pushing  through  the  alder-bushes, 
Came  the  aged  Vainamoinen, 
And  he  saw  her  in  the  thicket, 
Finely  clad  among  the  herbage. 
And  he  spoke  the  words  which  follow: 

''Maiden,  do  not  wear  for  others. 
But  for  me  alone,  0  maiden. 
Round  thy  neck  a  beaded  necklace. 
And  a  cross  upon  thy  bosom. 


FINLAND  139 

Plait  for  me  thy  beauteous  tresses, 
Bind  thy  liair  with  silken  ribands." 

But  the  young  maid  gave  him  answer, 
*'Not  for  thee,  and  not  for  others, 
Rests  the  cross  upon  my  bosom, 
And  my  hair  is  bound  with  ribands. 
Nought  I  care  for  sea-borne  raiment; 
Wheaten  bread  I  do  not  value. 
I  will  walk  in  home-spun  garments, 
And  with  crusts  will  still  my  hunger, 
In  my  dearest  father's  dwelling, 
And  beside  my  much-loved  mother." 

From  her  breast  she  took  the  crosslet, 
Drew  the  rings  from  off  her  fingers. 
From  her  neck  the  beaded  necklace. 
From  her  head  the  scarlet  ribands. 
Down  upon  the  ground  she  threw  them. 
Scattered  them  among  the  bushes; 
Then  she  hastened  ever  weeping, 
Loud  lamenting,  to  the  homestead. 

At  the  window  sat  her  father. 
While  he  carved  a  hatchet-handle. 
'*  "Wherefore  weepest  thou,  my  daughter. 
Young,  and  yet  so  full  of  sadness?" 

''Cause  enough  have  I  for  weeping. 
Cause  for  weeping  and  lamenting. 


140  FINLAND 

Therefore  weep  I,  dearest  father, 
Weep,  and  feel  so  full  of  sorrow." 

At  the  gate  her  brother  sitting, 
For  the  sledge  was  shaping  runners. 
''Wherefore  weepest  thou,  my  sister, 
''Young  and  yet  so  full  of  sorrow?" 

"Cause  enough  have  I  for  weeping, 
Cause  for  weeping  and  lamenting. 
Therefore  do  I  weep,  poor  brother. 
Weep  and  feel  so  full  of  sorrow." 

At  the  window  sat  her  sister, 
As  she  wove  a  golden  girdle. 
"Wherefore  weepest  thou,  poor  sister, 
Young,  and  yet  so  full  of  sorrow?" 

"Cause  enough  have  I  for  weeping. 
Cause  for  weeping  and  lamenting. 
Therefore  do  I  weep,  poor  sister. 
Weep,  and  feel  so  full  of  sorrow." 

On  the  threshold  of  the  storehouse. 
Skimming  milk,  she  found  her  mother. 
"Wherefore  weepest  thou,  my  daughter, 
Young,  and  yet  so  full  of  sorrow?" 

"0  my  mother,  who  hast  borne  me, 
0  my  mother,  who  hast  nursed  me, 


FINLAND  141 

Cause  enough  have  I  for  anguish, 
Cause  enough  for  bitter  sorrow. 
Therefore  do  I  weep,  poor  mother, 
Therefore  grieve  I,  0  my  mother, 
To  the  wood  I  went  for  besoms. 
Gathered  bath-whisks  from  the  bushes; 
One  I  gathered  for  my  father. 
One  I  gathered  for  my  mother, 
And  I  gathered  yet  another. 
For  my  young  and  ruddy  brother. 
As  I  turned  my  footsteps  homeward, 
And  across  the  heath  was  tripping, 
From  the  dell  called  Vainamoinen. 

**  *Do  not  wear,  fair  maid,  for  others, 
But  for  me  alone,  poor  maiden, 
Round  thy  neck  a  beaded  necklace, 
And  a  cross  upon  thy  bosom. 
Plait  for  me  thy  beauteous  tresses, 
Braid  thy  hair  with  silken  ribands.* 

''From  my  breast  I  took  the  crosslet, 
From  my  neck  the  beaded  necklace, 
Tore  the  blue  bands  from  my  temples, 
From  my  head  the  scarlet  ribands. 
Then  upon  the  ground  I  threw  them. 
Scattered  them  among  the  bushes, 
And  I  answered  him  in  this  wise: 
*  Not  for  thee,  and  not  for  others. 


142  FINLAND 

Rests  my  cross  upon  my  bosom, 
And  my  hair  is  bound  with  ribands. 
Nought  I  care  for  sea-bonie  raiment, 
Wheaten  bread  I  do  not  value. 
I  will  walk  in  homespun  garments. 
And  with  crusts  will  still  my  hunger, 
In  my  dearest  father's  dwelling. 
And  beside  my  much-loved  mother.'  " 

And  her  mother  answered  thus  wise, 
Said  the  old  crone  to  the  maiden, 
''Do  not  weep,  my  dearest  daughter. 
Do  not  grieve  (and  thou  so  youthful) ; 
Eat  a  whole  year  long  fresh  butter. 
That  your  form  may  grow  more  charming, 
And  the  third  year  eat  thou  cream-cakes, 
That  you  may  become  more  lovely. 
Seek  the  storehouse  on  the  mountain, 
There  are  coffers  piled  on  coffers, 
Chests  in  heaps  on  chests  are  loaded, 
Open  then  the  finest  coffer. 
Raise  the  painted  lid  with  clangour. 
There  you'll  find  six  golden  girdles. 
Seven  blue  robes  of  finest  texture. 
Woven  by  the  Moon's  own  daughter, 
By  the  Sun's  own  daughter  fashioned. 

"In  the  days  when  I  was  youthful. 
In  my  youthful  days  of  girlhood, 


FINLAND  143 

In  the  wood  I  sought  for  berries, 
Gathered  raspberries  on  the  mountain, 
Heard  the  moonlight's  daughter  weaving, 
And  the  sunlight's  daughter  spinning. 
There  beside  the  wooded  island, 
On  the  borders  of  the  greenwood. 

*' Thereupon  I  softly  neared  them. 
And  beside  them  took  my  station. 
And  began  to  ask  them  gently, 
In  the  words  that  I  repeat  you: 
'  Give  you  of  your  gold,  0  Kuutar, 
And  your  silver  give,  Paivatar, 
To  the  maiden  poorly  dowered. 
To  the  child  who  now  implores  you!' 

'  *  Then  her  gold  did  Kuutar  give  me. 
And  her  silver  gave  Paivatar. 
With  the  gold  I  decked  my  temples. 
And  adorned  my  head  with  silver. 
Homeward  like  a  flower  I  hastened. 
Joyful,  to  my  father's  dwelling. 

**  These  I  wore  one  day,  a  second. 
Then  upon  the  third  day  after 
Took  the  gold  from  off  my  temples. 
From  my  head  removed  the  silver. 
Took  them  to  the  mountain  storehouse; 
In  the  chest  with  care  I  laid  them. 


144  FINLAND 

There  until  this  day  I  left  them, 
And  since  then  I  have  not  seen  them. 

''On  thy  brows  bind  silken  ribands, 
On  thy  temples  gold  adornments, 
Round  thy  neck  a  beaded  necklace. 
On  thy  breast  a  golden  crosslet. 
Lay  thou  on  a  robe  of  woolen, 
Bind  it  with  a  silken  girdle, 
Then  the  finest  silken  stockings, 
And  of  shoes  the  very  finest, 
Then  in  plaits  thy  hair  arranging. 
Bind  it  up  with  silken  ribands. 
Slip  the  gold  rings  on  thy  fingers. 
Deck  thy  wrists  with  golden  bracelets. 
After  this  return  thou  homewards 
From  thy  visit  to  the  storehouse. 
As  the  joy  of  all  thy  kindred. 
And  of  all  thy  race  the  fairest. 
Like  a  floweret  by  the  wayside. 
Like  a  raspberry  on  the  mountain. 
Far  more  lovely  than  aforetime, 
Fairer  than  in  former  seasons." 

Thus  the  mother  urged  her  counsel, 
Thus  she  spoke  unto  her  daughter. 
But  the  daughter  did  not  heed  her, 
Heeded  not  her  mother's  counsel. 
From  the  house  she  wandered  weeping, 


FINLAND  145 

From  the  homestead  went  in  sorrow, 
As  she  said  the  words  which  follow, 
And  expressed  herself  in  this  wise: 

"Better  fortune  had  befel  me. 
And  it  would  have  been  more  happy, 
Had  I  not  been  bom  and  nurtured. 
And  had  never  grown  in  stature, 
Till  I  saw  these  days  of  sorrow. 
And  this  joyless  time  o'ertook  me. 
Had  I  died  in  six  nights  only. 
Much  I  should  not  then  have  needed, 
But  a  shroud  a  span-long  only, 
And  of  earth  a  tiny  corner. 
Little  then  had  wept  my  mother, 
Fewer  tears  had  shed  my  father. 
And  my  brother  not  a  tearlet." 

Thus  she  wept  a  day,  a  second. 
And  again  her  mother  asked  her, 
"Wherefore  dost  thou  weep,  poor  maiden, 
Wherefore  thus  lament  and  sorrow?" 

"Wherefore  weep  I,  hapless  maiden. 
Wherefore  do  I  weep  for  ever. 
That  yourself  have  pledged  me,  hapless. 
And  your  daughter  you  have  promised 
Thus  to  be  an  old  man's  comfort, 
As  a  solace  to  the  old  man, 


146  FINLAND 

To  support  his  feeble  footsteps, 
And  to  wait  upon  him  always. 
Better  were  it  had  you  sent  me 
Deeply  down  beneath  the  billows, 
There  to  be  the  powan's  sister, 
And  companion  of  the  fishes. 
In  the  lake   'tis  surely  better, 
There  beneath  the  waves  to  sojourn, 
There  to  be  the  powan's  sister, 
And  companion  of  the  fishes. 
Than  to  be  an  old  man's  comfort, 
To  support  his  aged  footsteps, 
So  that  I  can  mend  his  stockings, 
And  may  be  a  staff  to  prop  him." 

Then  she  sought  the  mountain  storehouse, 
And  the  inner  room  she  entered ; 
And  the  finest  chest  she  opened, 
Raised  the  painted  lid  with  clangour, 
And  she  found  six  golden  girdles. 
Seven  blue  robes  of  finest  texture, 
And  she  robed  her  in  the  finest, 
And  completed  her  adornment. 

Then  she  wandered  from  the  storehouse. 
And  across  the  fields  she  wandered, 
Past  the  marshes  and  the  heathlands. 
Through  the  shady,  gloomy  forests. 
Thus  she  spoke  as  on  she  wandered: 


FINLAND  147 

''Now  my  time  perchance  approaches, 
From  this  weary  world  to  hasten." 

On  she  went,  one  day,  a  second, 
And  at  length,  upon  the  third  day 
Came  she  to  a  lake's  broad  margin, 
To  the  bank  o'ergrown  with  rushes. 
On  the  rocks  that  fringed  the  margin. 
Where  a  bay  spread  wide  before  her. 
As  she  gazed  from  off  the  headland, 
Just  beyond  she  saw  three  maidens. 
Bathing  there  amid  the  waters, 
Aino  made  the  fourth  among  them. 
Cast  her  dress  upon  the  aspens. 
On  the  open  ground  her  stockings. 
Threw  her  shoes  upon  the  boulders. 
On  the  sand  her  beads  she  scattered. 
And  her  rings  upon  the  shingle. 

In  the  waves  a  rock  was  standing. 
Brightly  hued  and  golden  shining; 
And  she  swam  and  sought  to  reach  it, 
As  a  refuge  in  her  trouble. 

When  at  length  she  stood  upon  it, 
And  would  rest  upon  the  summit, 
On  the  stone  of  many  colours, 
On  the  rock  so  smooth  and  shining. 
In  the  waves  it  sank  beneath  her, 


148  FINLAND 

Sinking  to  the  very  bottom. 
With  the  rock,  the  maiden  Aino 
Sank  beneath  the  water's  surface. 

There  the  dove  for  ever  vanished, 
Thus  the  luckless  maiden  perished. 

Who  shall  now  the  tidings  carry, 
And  repeat  the  mournful  story. 
At  the  dwelling  of  the  maiden, 
At  the  homestead  of  the  fair  one? 

First  the  bear  would  take  the  tidings, 
And  repeat  the  mournful  story; 
But  the  bear  conveyed  no  tidings, 
For  he  strayed  among  the  cattle. 

Who  shall  now  the  tidings  carry, 
And  repeat  the  mournful  story. 
At  the  dwelling  of  the  maiden, 
At  the  homestead  of  the  fair  one? 

Then  the  wolf  would  take  the  message, 
And  repeat  the  mournful  story; 
But  the  wolf  conveyed  no  tidings, 
For  among  the  sheep  he  wandered. 

Who  shall  now  the  tidings  carry. 
And  repeat  the  mournful  story. 


FINLAND  149 

At  the  dwelling  of  the  maiden, 
At  the  homestead  of  the  fair  one? 

/■ 

Then  the  fox  would  take  the  message, 

And  repeat  the  mournful  story; 

But  the  fox  conveyed  no  tidings, 

For  among  the  geese  he  wandered. 

Who  shall  now  the  tidings  carry, 
And  repeat  the  mournful  story. 
At  the  dwelling  of  the  maiden, 
At  the  homestead  of  the  fair  one  ? 

'Twas  the  hare  who  took  the  tidings, 
And  conveyed  the  mournful  story; 
For  the  hare  replied  discreetly, 
*'I  will  not  forget  the  message." 

Then  the  hare  sprang  quickly  onward, 
Sped  the  Long-ear  with  his  story. 
On  his  crooked  legs  he  hastened, 
With  his  cross-like  mouth  he  hurried. 
To  the  dwelling  of  the  maiden, 
To  the  homestead  of  the  fair  one. 

Thus  he  hastened  to  the  bath-house, 
And  he  crouched  upon  the  threshold. 
Full  of  maidens  is  the  bath-house. 
In  their  hands  the  bath-whisks  holding. 


150  FINLAND 

''Scamp,  come  here;  and  shall  we  boil  you, 

Or,  0  Broad-eye,  shall  we  roast  you. 

Either  for  the  master's  supper. 

Or  perchance  the  mistress'  breakfast. 

For  the  luncheon  of  the  daughter, 

Or  perchance  the  son  to  dine  on?" 

Thereupon  the  hare  responded. 
And  the  Round-eye  answered  boldly, 
''I  am  come  to  give  you  tidings, 
And  to  bring  a  message  to  you. 
Vanished  from  you  is  the  fair  one, 
Sunken  with  her  silver  buckle. 
Drowning  with  her  belt  of  copper. 
To  the  depths  below  the  billows, 
There  to  be  the  powan's  sister. 
And  companion  of  the  fishes." 

Then  her  mother  fell  to  weeping, 
And  her  bitter  tears  flowed  freely. 
And  she  loud-lamented,  speaking 
In  her  grief  the  words  which  follow: 
"Never,  0  unhappy  mothers, 
Never  while  your  life  endureth. 
Never  may  you  urge  your  daughters. 
Or  attempt  to  force  your  children 
To  a  marriage  that  repels  them, 
Like  myself,  0  wretched  mother. 
Urging  vainly  thus  my  daughter. 
Thus  my  little  dove  I  fostered." 


FINLAND  151 


VAINAMOINEN    AND    VIPUNEN. 

''Vainamoinen,  old  and  steadfast,"  the  hero 
of  the  Kalevala,  decides  to  build  a  boat.  He  is 
going  to  Pohjola  (Lapland)  to  woo  the  maiden 
of  Pohja,  the  rainbow  maiden,  who  is  famed 
for  her  wealth  and  beauty.  Finding  that  it 
will  require  several  magic  words  to  enable  him 
to  complete  the  boat,  he  goes  in  search  of  the 
words,  and  after  many  disappointments  meets 
a  shepherd  who  says  to  him: — 

''You  can  find  a  hundred  phrases. 
And  a  thousand  words  discover, 
Known  to  Antero  Vipunen 
In  his  monstrous  mouth  and  body. 
And  there  is  a  path  which  leads  there, 
And  a  cross-road  must  be  traversed, 
Not  the  best  among  the  pathways, 
Nor  the  very  worst  of  any. 
Firstly  you  must  leap  along  it 
O'er  the  points  of  women's  needles. 
And  another  stage  must  traverse 
O'er  the  points  of  heroes'  sword-blades, 
And  a  third  course  must  be  traversed 
O'er  the  blades  of  heroes'  axes." 

Vainamoinen,  old  and  steadfast, 
Pondered  deeply  o'er  the  journey, 
To  the  smithy  then  he  hastened, 


152  FINLAND 

And  he  spoke  the  words  which  follow: 

**0  thou  smith,  0  Ilmarinen, 
Forge  me  straightway  shoes  of  iron, 
Forge  me  likewise  iron  gauntlets, 
Make  me,  too,  a  shirt  of  iron. 
And  a  mighty  stake  of  iron. 
For  I  go  some  words  to  seek  for. 
And  to  snatch  the  words  of  power. 
From  the  giant's  mighty  body. 
Mouth  of  Antero  Vipunen." 

Then  the  smith,  e'en  Ilmarinen, 
Answered  in  the  words  which  follow: 

"Vipunen  has  long  since  perished, 
Long  has  Antero  departed. 
Words  from  him  you  cannot  hope  for; 
Half  a  word  you  could  not  look  for." 

Vainamoinen,   old  and  steadfast. 
Started  on  his  way,  unheeding, 
And  the  first  day  speeded  lightly 
O'er  the  points  of  women's  needles. 
And  the  second  day  sprang  nimbly 
O'er  the  points  of  heroes'  sword-blades, 
And  upon  the  third  day  speeded 
O'er  the  blades  of  heroes'  axes. 

Vipunen  in  songs  was  famous, 
Full  of  craft  the  aged  hero ; 
"With  his  songs  he  lay  extended. 
On  his  shoulders  grew  a  poplar. 
From  his  temples  sprang  a  birch-tree, 


FINLAND  153 

On  his  chin-tip  grew  an  alder, 

On  his  beard  a  willow-thicket, 

On  his  brow  were  firs  with  squirrels, 

From  his  teeth  sprang  branching  pine-trees. 

Then  at  once  did  Vainamoinen, 

Draw  his  sword  and  free  the  iron 

From  the  scabbard  formed  of  leather, 

Fell  the  poplar  from  his  shoulders. 

Fell  the  birch-trees  from  his  temples, 

From  his  chin  the  spreading  alders. 

From  his  beard  the  willow-bushes, 

From  his  brow  the  firs  with  squirrels. 

From  his  teeth  the  branching  pine-trees. 

Then  he  thrust  his  stake  of  iron 
Into  Vipunen's  mouth  he  thrust  it, 
In  his  gnashing  gums  he  thrust  it, 
In  his  clashing  jaws  he  thrust  it, 
And  he  spoke  the  words  which  follow: 

''Rouse  thyself,  0  slave  of  mortals. 
Where  beneath  the  earth  thou  restest. 
In  a  sleep  that  long  has  lasted." 

Vipunen,  in  songs  most  famous, 
Suddenly  awoke  from  slumber. 
Feeling  he  was  roughly  treated. 
Vainamoinen,  aged  hero. 
Just  above  his  mouth  was  standing. 
And  his  right  foot  slipped  beneath  him, 
And  his  left  foot  glided  onward. 
Into  Vipunen's  mouth  he  stumbled, 


154  FINLAND 

And  within  his  jaws  he  glided. 

Vipiinen,  in  songs  most  famous, 
Opened  then  his  mouth  yet  wider, 
And  his  jaws  he  wide  extended, 
Gulped  the  well-beloved  hero, 
With  a  shout  the  hero  swallowed, 
Him  the  aged  Vainamoinen. 

Vipunen,  in  songs  most  famous. 
Spoke  the  very  words  which  follow: 

"I  have  eaten  much  already, 
And  on  ewes  and  goats  have  feasted, 
And  have  barren  heifers  eaten. 
And  have  also  swine  devoured, 
But  I  ne'er  had  such  a  dinner, 
Such  a  morsel  never  tasted." 

But  the  aged  Vainamoinen, 
Uttered  then  the  words  which  follow: 
' '  Now  destruction  falls  upon  me. 
And  an  evil  day  o'ertakes  me, 
Prisoned  here  in  Hiisi's  stable. 
Here  in  Kalma's  narrow  dungeon." 

So  he  pondered  and  reflected 
How  to  live  and  how  to  struggle. 
In  his  belt  a  knife  had  Vaino, 
And  the  haft  was  formed  of  maple. 
And  from  this  a  boat  he  fashioned. 
And  a  boat  he  thus  constructed. 
And  he  rowed  the  boat  and  urged  it 


FINLAND  155 

Back  and  forth  throughout  the  entrails, 
Rowing  through  the  narrow  channels, 
And  exploring  every  passage. 

Vipunen  the  old  musician, 
Was  not  thus  much  incommoded ; 
Then  the  aged  Vainamoinen 
As  a  smith  began  to  labour. 
And  began  to  work  with  iron. 
With  his  shirt  he  made  a  smithy. 
With  his  shirt-sleeves   made  his  bellows, 
With  the  fur  he  made  the  wind-bag. 
With  his  trousers  made  the  air-pipe, 
And  the  opening  with  his  stockings, 
And  he  used  his  knee  for  anvil. 
And  his  elbow  for  a  hammer. 

Then  he  quick  began  to  hammer. 
Actively  he  plied  his  hammer, 
Through  the  livelong  night,   unresting. 
Through  the  day  without  cessation 
In  the  stomach  of  the  wise  one, 
In  the  entrails  of  the  mighty. 

Vipunen,  in  songs  most  famous. 
Spoke  aloud  the  words  which  follow : 

'  *  Who  among  mankind  can  this  be. 
Who  among  the  roll  of  heroes'? 
I  have  gulped  a  hundred  heroes. 
And  a  thousand  men  devoured, 
But  his  like  I  never  swallowed. 


156  FINLAND 

In  my  mouth  the  coals  are  rising, 

On  my  tongue  are  firebrands  resting, 

In  my  throat  is  slag  of  iron. 

''Still  I  hardly  comprehend  it. 
Do  not  comprehend  the  reason, 
How  thou,  Hiisi,  here  hast  wandered, 
Why  thou  cam'st,  thou  evil  creature, 
Thus  to  bite  and  thus  to  torture. 
Thus  to  eat,  and  thus  to  gnaw  me. 
Art  thou  some  disease-created 
Death  that  Jumala  ordains  me? 

''Once  before  have  ills  assailed  me, 
Plagues  from  somewhere  have  attacked  me. 
From  the  realms  of  mighty  sorcerers, 
From  the  meadows  of  the  soothsayers. 
And  the  homes  of  evil  spirits, 
And  the  plains  where  dwell  the  wizards. 
From  the  caves  where  bears  are  lurking. 
From  the  furthest  bounds  of  Pohja, 
From  the  distant  realms  of  Lapland, 
From  the  wastes  where  grow  no  bushes. 
From  the  lands  unploughed  for  ever. 
From  the  battle-fields  extended, 
From  the  slaughter-place   of  heroes, 
From  the  blue  seas'  watery  surface, 
From  the  open  sea's  broad  surface. 
From  the  black  mud  of  the  ocean, 
From  the  depth  of  thousand  fathoms, 


FINLAND  157 

From  the  fiercely  rushing  torrents, 
From  the  seething  of  the  whirlpool, 
And  from  Eutja's  mighty  cataract, 
Where  the  waters  rush  most  wildly, 
From  the  further  side  of  heaven, 
Where  the  rainless  clouds  stretch  furthest 
From  the  pathway  of  the  spring-wind. 
From  the  cradle  of  the  tempests. 

''From  such  regions  hast  thou  journeyed 
To  my  heart  of  evil  guiltless, 
To  my  belly  likewise  sinless. 
To  devour  and  to  torment  me, 
And  to  bite  me  and  to  tear  me  I 

''Pine  away,  0  hound  of  Hiisi, 
0  thou  demon,  quit  my  body. 
Pest  of  earth,  0  quit  my  liver. 

"I  will  drive  thee  forth  and  ban  thee. 
Drive  thee  forth,  0  evil  creature, 
To  the  deep  and  swampy  valleys. 
To  the  ever-frozen  marshes. 
To  the  swamps  for  ever  quaking. 
Quaking  underneath  the  footsteps. 
To  the  ponds  where  sport  no  fishes. 
Where  no  perch  are  ever  noticed. 
Further  yet  will  I  then  ban  thee. 
To  the  furthest  bounds  of  Pohja, 
To  the  distant  plains  of  Lapland, 
To  the  country  where  they  plough  not, 


158  FINLAND 

Where  is  neither  moon  nor  sunlight, 
Where  the  sun  is  never  shining. 
There  a  charming  life  awaits  thee, 
There  to  roam  about  at  pleasure, 

' '  Take  thy  flight,  0  evil  creature. 
Fare  thee  forth  into  the  moonlight. 
Wander  forth  amid  its  brightness." 
Vainamoinen,  old  and  steadfast, 
Answered  in  the  words  which  follow: 

''Here  I  find  a  pleasant  dwelling, 
Here  I  dwell  in  much  contentment, 
And  for  bread  the  liver  serves  me, 
And  the  fat  with  drink  supplies  me. 
And  the  lungs  are  good  for  cooking. 
And  the  fat  is  best  for  eating. 

"Therefore  will  I  sink  my  smithy. 
In  thy  heart  for  ever  deeper. 
And  will  strike  my  hammer  harder. 
Pounding  on  the  tenderest  places, 
That  in  all  thy  life  thou  never 
Freedom  from  the  ill  may'st  hope  for. 
If  thy  spells  thou  dost  not  teach  me. 
All  thy  magic  spells  shalt  teach  me. 
Till  thy  spells  I  learn  in  fulness, 
And  a  thousand  spells  have  gathered; 
Till  no  spells  are  hidden  from  me. 


FINLAND  159 

Nor  the  spells  of  magic  hidden, 
That  in  caves  their  power  is  lost  not, 
Even  though  the  wizards  perish." 

Vipnnen,  in  songs  so  famous, 
He  the  sage  so  old  in  wisdom, 
In  whose  mouth  was  mighty  magic, 
Power  unbounded  in  his  bosom, 
Opened  then  his  mouth  of  wisdom. 
Of  his  spells  the  casket  opened. 
Sang  his  mighty  spells  of  magic. 
Chanted  forth  of  all  the  greatest, 
Magic  songs  of  the  Creation, 
From  the  very  earliest  ages. 
Songs  that  all  the  children  sing  not. 
Even  heroes  understand  not. 
In  these  dreary  days  of  evil. 
In  the  days  that  now  are  passing. 

Words  of  origin  he  chanted. 
All  his  spells  he  sang  in  order. 
At  the  will  of  the  Creator, 
At  behest  of  the  Almighty, 
How  himself  the  air  he  fashioned, 
And  from  air  the  water  parted, 
And  the  earth  was  formed  from  water. 
And  from  earth  all  herbage  sprouted. 

Then  he  sang  the  moon's  creation, 
Likewise  how  the  sun  was  fashioned, 
How  the  air  was  raised  on  pillars. 
How  the  stars  were  placed  in  heaven. 


160  FINLAND 

Vipunen,  in  songs  the  wisest, 
Sang  in  part,  and  sang  in  fulness. 
Never  yet  was  heard  or  witnessed, 
Never  while  the  world  existed. 
One  who  was  a  better  singer. 
One  who  was  a  wiser  wizard. 
From  his  mouth  the  words  were  flowing. 
And  his  tongue  sent  forth  his  sayings. 

Through  the  days  he  sang  unceasing, 
Through  the  nights  without  cessation. 
To  his  songs  the  sun  gave  hearing. 
And  the  golden  moon  stayed  listening, 
Waves  stood  still  on  ocean's  surface, 
Billows  sank  upon  its  margin, 
Rivers  halted  in  their  courses, 
Rutja's  furious  cataract  halted, 
Vuoksi's  cataract  ceased  its  flowing. 
Likewise,  too,  the  river  Jordan. 

When  the  aged  Vainamoinen 
Unto  all  the  spells  had  listened. 
And  had  learned  the  charms  in  fulness, 
All  the  magic  spells  creative, 
He  prepared  himself  to  travel 
From  the  wide-spread  jaws  of  Vipunen; 
From  the  belly  of  the  wise  one. 
From  within  his  monstrous  body. 

Said  the  aged  Vainamoinen, 
"0  thou  Antero  Vipunen  hugest. 
Open  thou  thy  mouth  gigantic. 


FINLAND  161 

And  thy  jaws  extend  more  widely. 

I  would  quit  for  earth  thy  body, 

And  would  take  my  journey  homeward." 

Vipunen  then,  in  songs  the  wisest, 
Answered  in  the  words  which  follow: 
''Much  I've  drunk,  and  much  have  eaten, 
And  consumed  a  thousand  dainties. 
But  before  I  never  swallowed 
Aught  like  aged  Vainamoinen. 
Good  indeed  has  been  thy  coming. 
Better  'tis  when  thou  departest." 

Then  did  Antero  Vipunen  open 
Open  wide  his  mouth  gigantic. 
And  his  jaws  extended  widely, 
While  the  aged  Vainamoinen 
To  his  mouth  made  lengthened  journey. 
From  the  belly  of  the  wise  one. 
From  within  his  monstrous  body. 
From  his  mouth  he  glided  swiftly, 
0  'er  the  heath  he  bounded  swiftly, 
Very  like  a  golden  squirrel, 
Or  a  golden-breasted  marten. 

Further  on  his  path  he  journeyed, 
Till  at  length  he  reached  the  smithy. 
Said  the  smith,  e'en  Ilmarinen, 
''Have  you  found  the  words  you  wanted, 
Have  you  learned  the  spells  creative, 
That  the  boat-sides  you  can  fashion, 
Spells  to  fix  the  stem  together. 


162     .  FINLAND 

And  the  bows  to  deftly  fashion  T' 
Vainamoinen,  old  and  steadfast, 
Answered  in  the  words  which  follow: 

''Spells  a  hundred  have  I  gathered, 
And  a  thousand  spells  of  magic, 
Secret  spells  were  opened  to  me, 
Hidden  charms  were  all  laid  open. ' ' 

To  his  boat  he  hastened  quickly. 
And  he  set  to  work  most  wisely, 
Set  to  work  the  boat  to  finish, 
And  he  fixed  the  sides  together, 
And  the  stern  he  fixed  together. 
And  the  bows  he  deftly  fashioned. 
But  the  boat  he  built  unhammered. 
Nor  a  chip  he  severed  from  it. 

THE   RAINBOW    MAIDEN 

Vainamoinen,  old  and  steadfast,  failed  to 
win  the  Maid  of  Pohja,  who  is  described  as 
seated  on  the  rainbow. 

Clad  in  robes  of  dazzling  lustre. 
Clad  in  raiment  white  and  shining. 
There  a  golden  fabric  weaving. 
And  her  shuttle  was  all  golden. 
And  her  comb  was  all  of  silver. 

From  her  hand  flew  swift  the  shuttle. 
In  her  hands  the  real  was  turning. 
And  the  copper  shafts  they  clattered, 


FINLAND  163 

And  the  silver  comb  resounded, 
As  the  maiden  wove  the  fabric, 
And  with  silver  interwove  it. 

Ilmarinen,  the  Mighty  Smith,  won  the  hand 
of  the  Eainbow  Maiden.  There  was  a  big  wed- 
ding and  among  the  dainty  dishes  at  the  wed- 
ding feast  was  an  ox  of  ''size  stupendous." 
It  required  a  thousand  men  to  drag  this  ox. 
His  back  touched  the  clouds,  his  horns  reck- 
oned a  hundred  fathoms. 

For  a  week  there  ran  an  ermine 
All  along  the  yoke  he  carried, 
All  day  long  there  flew  a  swallow 
'Twixt  the  mighty  ox's  horn-tips. 
Striving  through  the  space  to  hasten. 
Nor  found  resting-place  between  them; 
Month-long  ran  a  summer  squirrel 
From  his  neck  unto  his  tail-end. 
Nor  did  he  attain  the  tail-tip. 
Till  a  month  had  quite  passed  over. 

After  the  feast,  as  was  the  habit  of  the  land, 
the  bride  and  the  bridegroom  had  to  be  tor- 
mented and  lectured. 

Then  said  Pohjola's  old  Mistress: 

''Go  thou  forth,  0  plighted  maiden. 
Follow  thou,  0  dove  new-purchased  I 


164  FINLAND 

He  who  leads  thee  forth  is  vrith  thee, 
At  the  door  is  thy  conductor, 
And  his  horse  the  bit  is  champing, 
And  his  sledge  awaits  the  maiden. 

''Hast  thou  never,  youthful  maiden. 
On  both  sides  sui^^eyed  the  question, 
Looked  beyond  the  present  moment. 
When  the  bargain  was  concluded? 
All  thy  life  must  thou  be  weeping, 
And  for  many  years  lamenting, 
How  thou  left'st  thy  father's  household. 
And  thy  native  land  abandoned, 
From  beside  thy  tender  mother, 
From  the  home  of  she  who  bore  thee. 

*'0  the  bappy  life  thou  leddest. 
In  this  household  of  thy  father! 
Like  a  wayside  flower  thou  grewest. 
Or  upon  the  heath  a  strawberry. 
Waking  up  to  feast  on  butter, 
Fresh-made  butter,  milk,  and  wheaten. 
Or,  if  thou  could  eat  no  butter. 
Strips  of  pork  thou  then  could 'st  cut  thee. 

''Never  yet  wast  thou  in  trouble. 
Never  hadst  thou  cause  to  worry, 
To  the  fir-trees  tossed  thou  trouble. 
Worry  to  the  stumps  abandoned, 


FINLAND  165 

Care  to  pine-trees  in  the  marshlands, 
And  upon  the  heaths  the  birch-trees. 
Like  a  leaflet  thou  wast  fluttering, 
As  a  butterfly  wast  fluttering, 
Berry-like  in  native  soil, 
Or  on  open  ground  a  raspberry. ' ' 

Then  an  old  crone  of  the  household. 
In  the  house  for  long  abiding: — 

"Hear,  0  maiden,  what  I  tell  thee, 
Wliat  I  speak  and  what  I  tell  thee, 
In  thy  home  thou  wast  a  floweret. 
And  the  joy  of  father's  household, 
And  thy  father  called  thee  Moonlight, 
And  thy  mother  called  thee  Sunshine, 
And  thy  brother  Sparkling  Water, 
And  thy  sister  called  thee  Blue-cloth. 
To  another  home  thou  goest. 
There  to  find  a  stranger  mother. 
Never  is  a  stranger  mother 
Like  the  mother  who  has  borne  thee : 
Seldom  does  she  give  good  counsel, 
Seldom  gives  the  right  instructions. 
Sprig,  the  father  shouts  against  thee. 
And  the  brother  calls  thee  Doorstep, 
And  the  sister.  Nasty  Creature. 

**Lack-a-day,  0  maid,  my  sister! 
Thou  hast  changed  thy  much-loved  father 


166  FINLAND 

For  a  father-in-law,  a  bad  one; 
Thou  hast  changed  thy  tender  mother 
For  a  mother-in-law  most  stringent; 
Thou  hast  changed  thy  noble  brother 
For  a  brother-in-law  so  crook-necked, 
And  exchanged  thy  gentle  sister 
For  a  sister-in-law  all  cross-eyed. 

"Didst  thou  think,  0  youthful  maiden, 
Think,  0  dove,  full-fledged  at  present, 
Care  would  end  and  toil  be  lessened. 
With  the  party  of  this  evening. 

''Weep  thou,  weep  thou,  youthful  maiden, 
When  thou  weepest,  weep  thou  sorely. 
Weep  thyself  of  tears  a  handful. 
Fill  thy  fists  with  tears  of  longing. 
Drop  them  in  thy  father's  dwelling. 
Pools  of  tears  upon  the  flooring, 
Till  the  room  itself  is  flooded, 
And  above  tlie  floor  in  billows ! 
If  thou  weepest  yet  not  freely 
Thou  shalt  weep  when  thou  returnest. 
When  to  father's  house  thou  comest. 
And  shalt  find  thy  aged  father 
Suffocated  in  the  bathroom, 
Neath  liis  arm  a  dried-up  bath-whisk. 

'*Weep  thou,  weep  thou,  youthful  maiden. 
When  thou  weepest,  weep  thou  sorely; 


FINLAND  167 

If  thou  weepest  not  yet  freely, 
Thou  shalt  weep  when  thou  returnest, 
When  to  mother's  house  thou  comest, 
And  thou  find'st  thy  aged  mother 
Suffocated  in  the  cowshed, 
In  her  dying  lap  a  straw-sheaf. 

^'Weep  thou,  weep  thou,  youthful  maiden. 
When  thou  weepest,  weep  thou  sorely. 
If  thou  weepest  yet  not  freely, 
Thou  shalt  weep  when  thou  returnest, 
When  to  this  same  house  thou  comest. 
And  thou  find'st  thy  rosy  brother 
Fallen  in  the  porch  before  it, 
In  the  courtyard  helpless  fallen. 

''Weep  thou,  weep  thou,  youthful  maiden. 
When  thou  weepest,  weep  thou  sorely. 
If  thou  weepest  yet  not  freely. 
Thou  shalt  weep  when  thou  returnest, 
When  to  this  same  house  thou  comest, 
And  thou  find'st  thy  gentle  sister, 
Fallen  down  upon  the  pathway. 
And  beneath  her  arm  a  mallet." 

Then  the  poor  girl  broke  out  sobbing, 
And  awhile  she  sobbed  and  panted. 
And  she  soon  commenced  her  weeping. 
Pouring  forth  her  tears  in  torrents. 


168  FINLAND 

Another  counsels: — 

"No,  thou  hast  no  cause  for  weeping, 
Nor  to  yield  to  grievous  sorrow; 
To  the  marsh  they  do  not  lead  thee. 
Push  thee  not  into  the  ditches. 
Leavest  thou  these  fertile  cornfields, 
Yet  to  richer  fields  thou  goest. 
Though  they  take  thee  from  the  brewery, 
'Tis  to  where  the  ale's  abundant. 

'*If  around  thee  now  thou  gazest. 
Just  beside  thee  where  thou  standest, 
There  thy  bridegroom  stands  to  guard  thee, 
By  thy  side  thy  ruddy  husband. 
Good  thy  husband,  good  his  horses, 
All  things  needful  fill  his  cellars, 
And  the  grouse  are  loudly  chirping, 
On  the  sledge,  as  glides  it  onwards. 
And  the  thrushes  make  rejoicing. 
As  they  sing  upon  the  traces, 
And  six  golden  cuckoos  likewise 
Flutter  on  the  horse's  collar, 
Seven  blue  birds  are  also  perching. 
On  the  sledge 's  frame,  and  singing. 

''Do  not  yield  thee  thus  to  trouble, 
0  thou  darling  of  thy  mother! 
For  no  evil  fate  awaits  thee, 


FINLAND  169 

But  in  better  case  thou  comest, 
Sitting  by  thy  farmer  husband. 

*'Thou  hast  found  the  best  of  husbands, 
And  hast  won  a  mighty  hero." 

Then  Kaleva's  most  beauteous  maiden  in- 
structs the  bride: — 

''Thou  wilt  always  need  in  future 
Keady  wit,  and  clear  perception, 
And  thy  thoughts  must  all  be  prudent. 
Firmly  fixed  thy  understanding. 
Eyes  of  keenness  in  the  evening, 
That  the  fire  is  always  brilliant. 
Ears  of  sharpness  in  the  morning. 
Thus  to  listen  for  the  cockcrow. 
If  the  cockcrow  once  has  sounded. 
Though  the  second  has  not  sounded. 
It  becomes  the  young  to  rouse  them. 
Though  the  old  folk  still  are  resting. 

"If  you  see  the  Great  Bear  clearly, 
With  his  front  to  south  directed. 
And  his  tail  extending  northward. 
Then  'tis  time  for  thee  to  rouse  thee. 

*'If  no  fire  is  in  the  ashes, 
And  no  spark  is  in  the  firebox, 


170  FINLAND 

Coax  thou  then  thy  dearest  husband, 
And  cajole  thy  handsome  husband: 
'Light  me  now  the  fire,  my  dearest, 
Just  a  spark,  my  darling  berry ! '  " 

On  the  ground  there  sat  an  old  crone, 
Sat  an  old  dame  'neath  her  mantle. 
Wanderer  o'er  the  village  threshold. 
Wanderer  through  the  country's  footpaths. 
And  she  spoke  the  words  which  follow, 
And  in  words  like  these  expressed  her: 

''Hear,  0  sister,  what  I  tell  thee, 
When  thy  husband's  house  thou  seekest. 
Follow  not  thy  husband's  notions, 
As  was  done  by  me  unhappy. 
Larks  have  tongues,  and  husbands  notions 
But  a  lover's  heart  is  greater. 

"I  was  as  a  flower  that  flourished, 
As  a  wild  rose  in  the  thicket. 
And  I  grew  as  grows  a  sapling. 
Grew  into  a  slender  maiden. 
I  was  beauteous  as  a  berry, 
Eustling  in  its  golden  beauty; 
In  my  father's  yard  a  duckling. 
On  my  mother's  floor  a  gosling, 
Water-bird  unto  ray  brother. 
And  a  goldfinch  to  my  sister. 


FINLAND  171 

Flowerlike  walked  I  on  the  pathway, 
As  upon  the  plain  the  raspberry, 
Skipping"  on  the  sandy  lakeshore, 
Dancing  on  the  flower-clad  hillocks. 
Singing  loud  in  every  valley. 
Carolling  on  every  hill-top, 
Sporting  in  the  leafy  forests. 
In  the  charming  woods  rejoicing. 
As  a  berry  grows  in  marshland. 
And  in  other  waters,  cherry. 
Like  a  cranberry  sought  I  sorrow, 
Like  a  strawberry  exhortation. 
Every  tree  appeared  to  bite  me. 
Every  alder  seemed  to  tear  me, 
Every  birch  appeared  to  scold  me. 
Every  aspen  to  devour  me. 

''As  my  husband's  bride  they  brought  me. 
To  my  mother-in-law  they  led  me. 
Here  they  were,  as  they  had  told  me. 
Waiting  for  the  wedded  maiden. ' ' 

Now  the  girl  had  well  been  lectured, 
And  the  bride  had  been  instructed; 
It  became  the  bridegroom's  turn: — 

"0  thou  loved  and  youthful  bridegroom. 
Handsomest  of  all  the  people. 
Set  thou  forth  upon  thy  journey, 


172  FINLAND 

Hasten  to  commence  thy  journey, 

Bear  away  thy  youthful  maiden, 

Bear  away  thy  dove  so  lovely. 

From  thy  finch  depart  thou  never. 

Nor  desert  thy  darling  linnet; 

In  the  ditches  do  not  drive  her, 

Nor  against  the  hedge-stakes  drive  her. 

Nor  upset  her  on  the  tree-stumps, 

Nor  in  stony  places  cast  her. 

In  her  father's  house  she  never, 

In  her  dearest  mother's  homestead. 

In  the  ditches  has  been  driven, 

Nor  against  the  hedge-stakes  driven, 

Nor  upset  upon  the  tree-stumps. 

Nor  upset  in  stony  places. 

'*0  thou  loved  and  youthful  bridegroom. 
Handsomest  of  all  the  people, 
Never  may'st  thou  send  the  damsel. 
Never  may'st  thou  push  the  fair  one 
In  the  corner  there  to  loiter. 
Or  to  rummage  in  the  corner. 
In  her  father's  house  she  never. 
Never  in  her  mother's  household. 
Went  to  loiter  in  the  corner, 
Or  to  rummage  in  the  corner. 
Always  sat  she  at  the  window. 
In  the  room  she  sat,  and  rocked  her, 


FINLAND  173 

As  her  father's  joy  at  evening, 
And  her  mother's  love  at  morning. 

''Never  may'st  thou  treat  this  dovekin 
Never  may  this  darling  linnet, 
Ever  be  like  slave-girl  treated, 
Never  like  a  hired-servant, 
Neither  be  forbid  the  cellar. 
Nor  the  storehouse  closed  against  her 
Never  in  her  father's  dwelling, 
In  her  tender  mother's  household, 
Was  she  treated  like  a  slave-girl, 
Neither  like  a  hired  servant. 
Neither  was  forbid  the  cellar. 
Nor  the  storehouse  closed  against  her. 
Always  did  she  cut  the  wheatbread. 
And  the  hen's  eggs  also  looked  to. 
And  she  looked  to  all  the  milk-tubs. 
Looked  within  the  ale-casks  likewise, 
In  the  morn  the  storehouse  opened, 
Locked  it  also  in  the  evening. 

''Never  surely,  may  our  damsel. 
May  our  well-beloved  linnet, 
Be  in  hissing  terms  upbraided. 
That  from  no  high  race  she  springe th : 

"Stand  there  like  a  wall  before  her. 
Stand  before  her  like  a  doorpost, 


174  FINLAND 

Do  not  let  thy  mother  beat  her, 

Do  not  let  thy  father  scold  her, 

Do  not  let  the  guests  abuse  her, 

Do  not  let  the  neighbours  blame  her. 

Drive  the  mob  away  with  whipping, 

Beat  thou  other  people  only. 

Do  thou  not  oppress  thy  darling, 

Nor  chastise  thy  heart's  beloved, 

Whom  for  three  long  years  thou  waitedst. 

She  whom  thou  alone  has  longed  for. 

''Bridegroom,  give  thy  bride  instruction. 

''If  she  pays  no  heeding. 
Nor  concerns  herself  about  it, 
Choose  a  reed  where  reeds  are  growing. 
From  the  heath  fetch  thou  some  horse-tail. 
And  with  these  correct  the  damsel. 
With  the  stalks  then  whip  her  lightly. 
With  the  rough  edge  of  the  sedges. 
But  with  whip-lash  do  not  strike  her. 
Neither  with  the  rod  correct  her. 

"Always  strike  her  on  the  shoulders, 
On  her  soft  cheeks  do  thou  strike  her, 
On  her  eyes  forbear  to  strike  her, 
On  her  ears  forbear  to  touch  her; 
Lumps  would  rise  upon  her  temples. 
And  her  eyes  with  blue  be  bordered, 


FINLAND  175 

And  the  brother-in-law  would  question, 
And  the  father-in-law  perceive  it, 
And  the  village  ploughmen  see  it, 
And  would  laugh  the  village  women." 

By  the  stove  there  lay  an  old  man, 
By  the  hearth  there  sat  a  beggar; 
From  the  stove  there  spoke  the  old  man. 
From  the  hearth  there  spoke  the  beggar. 

**  Never  may'st  thou,  luckless  husband. 
Listen  to  thy  wife's  opinion. 
Tongue  of  lark,  and  whim  of  women, 
Like  myself,  a  youth  unhappy, 
For  both  bread  and  meat  I  bought  her, 
Bought  her  butter,  ale  I  bought  her. 
Every  sort  of  fish  I  bought  her. 
Bought  her  all  sorts  of  provisions. 
Home-brewed  ale  the  best  I  bought  her. 
Likewise  wheat  from  foreign  countries. 

**But  she  let  it  not  content  her. 
Nor  did  it  improve  her  temper. 
For  one  day  the  room  she  entered. 
And  she  grasped  my  hair,  and  tore  it, 
And  her  face  was  quite  distorted. 
And  her  eyes  were  wildly  rolling. 
Always  scolding  in  her  fury. 
To  her  heart's  contentment  scolding. 


176  FINLAND 

Heaping  foul  abuse  upon  me, 
Roaring  at  me  as  a  sluggard. 

*'But  I  knew  another  method, 
Knew  another  way  to  tame  her. 
So  I  peeled  myself  a  birch-shoot, 
When  she  came,  and  called  me  birdie; 
But  when  juniper  I  gathered, 
Then  she  stooped  and  called  me  darling; 
When  I  lifted  rods  of  willow. 
On  my  neck  she  fell  embracing." 

Now  the  hapless  girl  was  sighing. 
Sighing  much,  and  sobbing  sadly; 
Presently  she  broke  out  weeping. 
And  she  spoke  the  words  which  follow: 

"Until  now  I  never  pondered. 
Nor  believed  in  all  my  life-time. 
Never  thought  on  my  departure. 
Realized  my  separation. 
From  the  precincts  of  this  castle. 
From  the  hill  where  it  is  builded. 
Now  I  feel  I  am  departing, 
And  I  know  that  I  am  going. 
Empty  are  the  parting  goblets, 
And  the  ale  of  parting  finished. 
And  the  sledges  all  are  waiting. 
Front  to  fields,  and  back  to  homestead, 


FINLAND  177 

With  one  side  towards  the  stables, 
And  the  other  to  the  cowhouse. 

*' Thanks  to  thee,  my  dearest  father. 
For  my  former  life  so  joyful, 
For  the  food  of  days  passed  over, 
For  the  best  of  all  the  dainties 
Thanks  to  thee,  my  dearest  mother. 
For  my  childhood's  cradle-rocking. 
For  thy  tending  of  the  infant, 
Whom  thou  at  thy  breast  hast  nurtured. 

"Also  thanks,  my  dearest  brother. 
Dearest  brother,  dearest  sister. 
Happiness  to  all  the  household, 
All  companions  of  my  childhood, 
Those  with  whom  I  lived  and  sported, 
And  who  grew  from  childhood  with  me. 

"Now  farewell  to  all  things  round  me. 
Berry-bearing  fields  and  forests. 
And  the  flower-bearing  roadsides. 
And  the  heaths  o'ergrown  with  heather. 
And  the  lakes  with  hundred  islands, 
And  the  depths  where  swim  the  powans, 
And  the  fair  hills  with  the  fir-trees. 
And  the  swampy  ground  with  birch-trees." 


178  FINLAND 

Then  the  smith,  e  'en  Ilmarinen, 
In  the  sledge  the  maiden  lifted. 

Thus  at  length,  smith  Ilmarinen 
Forth  from  Pohjola  departed, 
With  the  children  farewells  singing. 

And  at  length  upon  the  third  day 
Just  about  the  time  of  sunset, 
Hove  in  sight  the  smith's  fair  dwelling 
And  the  smoke  in  streaks  ascended, 
And  the  smoke  rose  thickly  upward. 
From  the  house  in  wreaths  arising, 
Up  amid  the  clouds  ascending. 


THE    END 


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